


The Hero's Shoulders

by Serie11



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Braveheart (Kingdom Hearts), Canon Rewrite, Character Development, Established Relationship, Game: Kingdom Hearts III, Keyblades (Kingdom Hearts), Magic, Multi, Pirates, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:27:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24484318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serie11/pseuds/Serie11
Summary: When Riku’s Keyblade breaks, Master Yen Sid sends Riku and Kairi along with Sora, Donald, and Goofy to explore a new world.Years ago, they built a raft together. Now that they're out pirating on the high seas, they’ll encounter enemies and allies alike, grow stronger - and might even learn something new about each other. Sora, Riku, and Kairi all have a heavy weight on their shoulders, but working together to share the load will make the journey easier than they think.
Relationships: Kairi/Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 30
Collections: Fandom 5K 2020





	The Hero's Shoulders

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Calantian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calantian/gifts).



> "We have not touched the stars,  
> nor are we forgiven, which brings us back  
> to the hero's shoulders and the gentleness that comes,  
> not from the absence of violence, but despite  
> the abundance of it."  
>  _Snow and Dirty Rain_ , Richard Siken.

“…and so, since Riku’s Keyblade broke, we came back here to regroup!”

Master Yen Sid regards Mickey solemnly – though thinking about it, Riku has never seen the man wear another expression. Maybe it’s just a thing that happens as you get older. Riku remembers some of the older folk back on the Islands resembling the mage before them. Or maybe it’s just something all of Master Yen Sid’s own, like the strange feeling in the air that Riku can feel when he’s near the old Master. Master Yen Sid makes a gesture with a hand, and a book floats down from the shelf behind him, settling lightly and flicking open to a page.

“An interesting turn of events,” Master Yen Sid says, stroking his beard. “Riku, have you tried to summon your Keyblade again?”

“Yeah. No luck,” Riku says. He looks down at his empty hand, and tries to imagine his Keyblade filling it, tries to pull on the place in his heart where his Keyblade normally rests. Nothing happens; not that he’d expected it to. He’d tried a bunch of times as they were retreating from the Realm of Darkness, and some more on the trip back to the Mysterious Tower. No matter what technique or trick he’d tried, it hadn’t made any difference. The song of his Keyblade is absent from his heart. He doesn’t know if he feels heavy, or light. It’s been with him for so long… but it had begun to symbolise everything that he wants to put behind him. As much as he doesn’t want to admit it, it feels _right_ that he can’t summon it anymore. What does that even mean? He’s supposed to be a Keyblade Master, but without a Keyblade… maybe he should just ask, before he works himself up too much.

He looks up at Master Yen Sid. “What’s going to happen now?”

Master Yen Sid lets out a long exhale. “You would not know it, but in the old days it was a rite of passage of sorts, for a new Keyblade Master to have their Keyblade break. Your Keyblade is an extension of your heart, and your heart has been through a tumulus change. You are not the young man who stood before me, prior to taking your Mark of Mastery exam. I expected that something like this might happen during your journey.”

Riku isn’t going to dispute it, but having it put out in the open like that feels disquieting. He _has_ changed, he knows that for sure, but has he really changed enough to warrant moving past Way To The Dawn? Darkness still flickers around him, and he can feel it even in the corners of this room. Always, always, calling to him. 

Mickey turns to grin up at him. “He means you’re getting closer to your goals! That’s great, Riku.”

“It’s not so great if I can’t use my Keyblade,” Riku mutters. He takes a breath. If Master Yen Sid says this is normal, then there must be a way to fix this. “How can I get it back?”

“You will know how, when you need to,” Master Yen Sid says mysteriously. “But taking the time to reflect and consolidate the change usually helps.” His eyes gleam slightly. “As does a touch of danger. It would be irresponsible to send you on your own, of course, so I have summoned Sora, Donald, and Goofy. They will pick you up and take you with them on their next port of call.” Master Yen Sid pauses for a second. “Kairi and Lea have also just returned. If you make the offer, likely one or both of them would accompany you.”

Riku nods. “I’ll ask – where are they?”

“I believe they are currently in the kitchen,” Master Yen Sid says. He gestures at the door. “Simply ask, and the tower will take you. Mickey, if you have a moment, there is something else I’d like to discuss.”

“Sure!” Mickey pipes up. “I’ll see you soon, Riku.”

“No worries.”

Riku turns to the door and closes his eyes as he opens it, picturing Kairi more than thinking about a kitchen. When he steps through, instead of the narrow staircase meandering above empty air, he almost runs into a large table that splits the thin room. The door closes behind him, and he’s sure that if he opened it again, it would not lead back into Master Yen Sid’s office.

“Riku!”

Kairi vaults up from where she’s sitting at the table, turning a handstand across the tabletop in order to get to him. Riku can’t help but laugh as she throws her arms around his neck, landing a kiss on his cheek. She’s warm and full of light, and he feels it washing against him, pushing back the shadows that have clung to him since they left the Realm of Darkness. Like something has finally pierced the veil holding it all back, he feels the remnant poison start to seep away. He lets out a rattling breath, and wraps his arms around her gently.

“Look who’s here to crash the party.”

Riku ignores Lea for the moment, taking the opportunity to lean against Kairi. She’s hugging him tightly, and doesn’t let go even after a few seconds. “Kairi?” he half asks, resisting the urge to tuck his hands into her back pockets. That might invite her to stay for longer, and he’s eyeing off the remaining half sandwich that is on the plate, in front of where she’d been sitting. He’s very hungry, all of a sudden.

“You’re back,” she says, finally leaning back so she can look at him. Riku opens his arms reluctantly, letting her pull away slightly. He’d much rather they continue snuggling, but he wants food.

“You want that?” he asks, and Kairi hits her palm on her forehead while Lea starts sniggering.

“What an opening line!” the redhead laughs, and has the gall to ignore the glare that Riku shoots him.

“Sorry,” Riku apologises to Kairi. “We haven’t had anything to eat in…” He tries to come up with a number and ends up just shrugging. Their time in the Realm of Darkness seems stretched out and clumped together, in ways he can’t quite put words to. Kairi and Lea are here, but the last time he saw them, they were supposed to be leaving for their training with Merlin. How long were they gone? _How long was_ he _gone?_

Kairi pouts, but drags her plate over for him anyway. “I _suppose_ , if you’re _desperate_.”

“Thanks,” Riku says through a mouthful of food.

Kairi rolls her eyes at him, but she tucks her hand into the crook of his arm so he doesn’t think she’s too mad. He tries to not be too obvious when he leans into her.

“When did you get back?” Lea asks. “We only just arrived this morning. How was your trip to the good old Realm of Darkness?”

Riku swallows, the food dry in his mouth. He doesn’t know how to describe it, so he won’t even try. “We found Aqua, but she got away from us. And… my Keyblade broke.”

“Huh?” Kairi asks, leaning in so her hair brushes over his skin. Riku hopes his shiver isn't too obvious. “It broke? How?”

“During a fight,” Riku admits. He stares at the half eaten sandwich. “Master Yen Sid says that I’ll get another one… somehow. Sora, Donald and Goofy are coming back, and I’ll be going with them. Apparently some danger should help.” Except he won’t be the one in danger – no way would Sora let him do that. His protective streak has hit a new high ever since they came back from their Mark of Mastery exam. Riku’s mood sours further.

“What? You’re going with Sora?” Kairi’s eyes are wide and she’s biting her lip. There’s something flitting behind her eyes that he doesn’t want to name. 

“Yeah. I came down to ask if you’d like to come with us.”

She grins, that other emotion wiped away. Riku frowns slightly, but she snuggles into his side and he pushes it out of his mind.

“Of course I’ll come with you,” she chirps. “Me and you and Sora? It’ll be fun!”

“Well count me out,” Lea says wryly. “A trip with the love birds? I’d rather not be a fourth wheel. Not my style, you know.”

Riku barely resists the urge to rolls his eyes. “Of course. Talk to Master Yen Sid, he’ll find something for you to do.”

“Uh, I’d rather not.” Lea sits down and kicks his feet up on the table. “I’ll just stick around here, study the curious never ending cupboards of good food…”

Riku thinks that Lea won’t get away with that for long, but it’s not his problem so he doesn’t call him out on it.

“If you just need a bit of danger to get your Keyblade back, then I’m sure we can rustle something up,” Kairi reassures him. “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely help you however I can.”

“Thanks,” Riku says, trying to sound like he means it. Kairi tilts her head inquisitively, but he just shoves the sandwich into his mouth to try and dissuade her from asking any questions. He still isn’t sure how he feels about this whole thing. Even if Master Yen Sid said that it’s normal, not having his Keyblade here makes him feel strangely vulnerable.

Kairi gets a glass of orange juice for both of them, and Riku asks about their training – Lea rolls his eyes and says that it was pretty boring, but Kairi says that she’s learned blizzard and thunder and fire, and she’s ready to test it all out. She mimes shooting a spell out, and Riku watches as Lea follows the movement fondly. He’s not surprised that the older man found it boring. Knowing Lea’s past, the last few weeks under Merlin’s tutelage have probably been the calmest the man has experienced in years.

“Come on, I’ll show you!” Kairi says, leaving her half-finished glass on the table and tugging Riku away.

Riku shoves the last of the sandwich into his mouth, chugs the last of his juice, and follows Kairi. There’s a spring in her step that he hasn’t seen since they left the Islands. He wonders at it, even as he quickens his own pace to keep up with her.

Kairi pushes open the front doors with a bit of difficulty, throwing her shoulder against the heavy wood and shoving. Riku holds the door open as he passes through it. When he lets it go it slowly closes, the magic of this place restoring it. Convenient that it only works in one direction.

“I like fire the best,” Kairi is saying. “I learned that first, and it’s really versatile, plus I’ve managed to get it to home in on whatever I’m aiming at.” She grabs her Keyblade, appearing with a sparkle of light. She narrows her eyes, and Riku feels himself relax as he looks at her. Even though Aqua is still in the Realm of Darkness, and he can’t summon his Keyblade, it’s hard to feel down when Kairi is right there, happy and showing off just for him.

“And my thunder is good for when I’m alone, but I haven’t managed to get it under control when I’m fighting with others,” Kairi says. “So I don’t want to use it now because I’ll probably hit you.”

“We can practise it when we get out there,” Riku tells her. “Your spells should be low level, so even if they hit Sora or I, you wouldn’t deal much damage.”

Kairi frowns at him, and he realises that might not have been the best thing to say.

“Hey, I know my spells aren’t really strong yet, but you don’t have to say it like that,” she pouts.

“Sorry.”

She twirls her Keyblade, and Riku’s palm itches. He tries to close his hand around the handle of his Keyblade, but nothing fills his palm. He clenches his fist instead.

“Don’t worry about it,” she sighs. “I know I’m not as strong as you are.”

“Only because you haven’t been out fighting as much as we have,” Riku reassures her. “Your light… I can feel it, even from here. Your magic is going to be stronger than mine or Sora’s.”

She frowns at him. “If you say so…”

Something about her tone has him stepping closer. “Hey, you okay?”

“Huh? Of course,” she says, twirling away from him and firing another blizzard from her Keyblade. “Why, what’s up?”

It’s not something he can put a name to, and if she says she’s fine then he’ll take her word for it. “Nothing.”

She dismisses her Keyblade and comes over to his side. “Are _you_ feeling okay?”

“Besides the fact that we left Aqua in the Realm of Darkness, I can’t use my Keyblade, and I’m going to go with you and Sora to a world where I won’t be able to help you guys fight? Just thinking about my current problems, and not, you know, Xehanort or finding Ventus and Terra and protecting all the Princesses or–”

“Hey,” Kairi says, cutting him off. She puts a hand on his arm and peers up at him. “I know it’s scary. It’s a lot of stuff to try and get our heads around.”

“You shouldn’t be dragged into this,” Riku mutters.

“Then it’s a good thing that I’m not being dragged,” Kairi says, rolling her eyes. “I’m here because I want to be, alright? You’re not making me do anything.”

“Right. Sorry.”

She squeezes his arm. “Hush. We can figure it all out together. This isn’t a problem we have to deal with by ourselves. We can lean on each other, rely on each other to do some things while we work on other things, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Riku agrees.

“So you tried to go and get Aqua and it didn’t work out – well, you tried! I’ve just been training. Sure, it’s important, but I still felt like you were out doing something important while I was stuck doing nothing.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t say it like that. I knew you’d do a good job, which is why I’m not disappointed in you, or anything silly like that. I know you did the best you could, and King Mickey as well.” She slides her hand up his arm to the back of his neck. “You lost Aqua, but you still want to try again – and next time you’ll be more prepared, and you’ll have your new Keyblade, and you’ll succeed. See?”

She makes it sound so easy.

“I don’t even know how close we were to saving her,” he admits quietly. “Or if we were at all.”

“Then you could have been just a second away,” Kairi points out. “You’ll get her next time, Riku. And hey, maybe Sora or I can come along with you. Maybe having us there will be that extra boost that you need.” She winks at him and he sets a hand against her waist, feeling her warmth.

Kairi’s gaze sharpens with intent and she tugs him down. Riku fits his mouth against hers snugly. Having her here to ground him after the chaotic lawlessness of the Realm of Darkness is something that he really did need. He winds his arms around her and pulls her in close, and they stand there kissing quietly until Kairi finally draws back an inch.

“See?” Kairi murmurs against his lips. “Better together, yeah?”

She makes a compelling argument. But as he leans down to kiss her again, something sparks in the distance – he narrows his eyes, but then grins as he spots the incoming ship.

“Sora sure doesn’t waste any time, does he?”

“Looks like it,” Kairi says, shading her eyes and peering up at the fast approaching gummi ship. “I wonder when Master Yen Sid sent the message.”

“They must have just finished something up,” Riku says. The gummi ship slows, and then hovers gently to come to a rest on the wider grassy area in front of the tower. It’s another few seconds before the hatch opens and Sora comes spilling out, Donald’s voice quick behind him.

“–land! Sora, get back here!”

“Riku! Kairi!”

Sora throws himself at them with the sort of vigour that Riku usually sees only in young puppies. Kairi laughs, and then the two of them spiral off into their own orbit, feet flashing as they keep up with each other. Riku watches them fondly as they hug, and how Kairi immediately begins crowing about the new move that she’s just learnt.

“You’ll have to show me soon – oh yeah!” Sora says. “That’s why we’re back here. Master Yen Sid sent us a message saying that you and Riku were maybe coming with us for a while?”

Riku can only respect the way that Sora bounces around topics. The only other option is to be weary, but Sora’s energy is too infectious for that. “Yeah,” he says. “We’re going with you.”

“What about Aqua? Did you find her? How was the Realm of Darkness? Where’s Lea?”

“Lea’s inside.” Riku answers the easiest question first, and dodging the one about the Realm of Darkness. “And we found Aqua, but… she got away from us. We were going to keep going after her, but my Keyblade broke, so we retreated.” He sighs.

Sora’s eyes go wide. “What?! Your Keyblade broke? Is that even possible?”

“Apparently, he can get it back,” Kairi says. “Master Yen Sid thinks it’ll be better for him to be out there, exploring the worlds, rather than moping around here. Speed up the process.”

Sora regards him silently for a few seconds. Riku shifts his weight, unnerved that he can’t place the expression or the thoughts behind his eyes. It’s moments like this that remind him of the space that’s grown between them, even though they’ve all tried their best to close it. It’s been a long time since they were kids playing on the beach.

“Well, of course you can come with us,” Sora says.

“Don’t we get a say in this?”

Riku looks over his shoulder to see Donald and Goofy. Donald has his arms crossed, but Goofy just elbows him, almost toppling the duck over.

“Of course ya can come with us! Don’t mind Donald, he’s just a bit grumpy that Sora made him drive.”

“Am not!”

Sora comes up and throws an arm over his shoulders, a feat made only possible because Sora is standing on the stairs. “An adventure with all three of us, huh? I think that’s a great idea. And if there’s anything I can do to help get your Keyblade back, I’ll definitely help.”

“Thanks,” Riku says, blowing out a breath. “Hopefully it’s not going to be a big deal.”

“Even if it is, we’ll manage,” Sora reassures him. He points at the ship. “Now come on – let’s go!”

“Um… we should probably tell Mickey and Master Yen Sid that we’re going.”

Sora sighs. “Where’s your spontaneity?”

Sometimes Riku wonders that himself. “I’ll just have to find it on this trip.”

“Heh. Sounds like a plan!”

* * *

Kairi presses her face against the window, squinting into the darkness of space to try and see their destination. Sora is a better driver than she had thought, and all the spins that they’re doing seem necessary. Still, she’s glad for her seatbelt.

“Come on, Sora, when will we see it?” she calls up to the cockpit.

“Soon!” he laughs. “You’re impatient.”

She pouts out the window, because no one can see her and it makes her feel marginally better. “I just want to get out there and start exploring! There’s only so many times we can play I Spy when the only things we can spy out the windows are rocks and Heartless ships.”

“Should have taken a nap, like Riku!” Goofy adds. “He must be still tired out from all that traversing he and the King did in the Realm of Darkness.”

She leans around to look at the tuft of silver hair she can see poking up from the other chair. Riku had fallen asleep as soon as they took off, but Kairi finds herself far too full of energy to even consider the idea. Not that she thinks she could sleep even if she wanted too – the gummi ship keeps doing hard banks and twists that would jolt her awake. She really has no clue how Riku is sleeping through it all.

“The world is coming up now,” Donald quacks.

“Ah!” Sora exclaims. “I know this one! Kairi, you’re gonna love this!”

She tries to look out her window, but she can only see distant sparkling stars and meteors which are slightly closer. Maybe the world can only be viewed from the front of the ship.

“Hey Donald,” Sora says. “Since it’s Kairi’s first time out, and we have Riku with us too, can we do a transformation this time? For fun?”

“Hmpf,” Donald says. “Magic isn’t a game, you know!”

“I know,” Sora placates him. “But Kairi and Riku deserve to see how awesome your magic is too, and we don’t know when they’ll be out with us next.”

“I suppose,” Donald says. “Okay, I can do it.”

“Yes!” Sora cheers.

“What magic?” Kairi asks.

“On some worlds, we need to change what we’re wearing in order to blend in,” Goofy tells her. “It’s to preserve the world order.”

“You can’t tell anyone that there are other worlds!” Donald exclaims. “Radiant Garden is different, but most worlds don’t know that they’re not alone. And letting on anything that might imply otherwise would upset the world order. We don’t want that, because most of these worlds wouldn’t have a way of leaving even if they do know, and it’s just a way of borrowing trouble that we don’t need. Sora is enough of a magnet for it as it is.”

“Hey!”

“Okay,” Kairi agrees. “Sounds reasonable.”

“You’re more sensible than Sora,” Donald points out, to which Sora starts protesting. Kairi tunes them out to look at the stars with a renewed interest now that she knows that they’re nearly there. She can tell that they’re slowing down already, so the world might even be closer than she suspects.

Sure enough, it’s only another few minutes before Donald asks for her to get up. Sora shakes Riku awake and he blearily stands next to her, Sora and Goofy on his other side. Donald stands in front of them and is muttering something under his breath. Kairi opens her mouth to ask him if she can help with anything, when he raises his wand and a flash of light goes over them all.

When she opens her eyes she’s… disappointingly unchanged. She plucks at her skirt, furrowing her brows slightly.

“Whew! Doing that on five people at the same time is definitely harder than just casting it on three,” Donald quacks. “Now, are you all ready to leave?”

“Donald’s magic will take shape when we get down to the world,” Sora says, watching her. “Ready to go?”

“Of course,” Kairi says, almost bouncing on the spot.

“I could use a minute,” Riku grumbles, but Sora just punches him on the shoulder playfully.

“You’re just cranky because your nap got interrupted, you’ll be fine. We’ll find a snack for you when we get down there,” he reassures him. “Now let’s go!”

She expects him to go back to the driver’s seat, or at least press a button or something to lower a door. Instead, Donald just quacks again, and the floor almost seems to fall out from underneath her feet.

Her stomach flips, but before she can really feel disorientated there’s solid ground under her feet again. She slowly blinks her eyes open, unsure when she’d closed them, to find the scenery around her completely changed. No longer are they in the gummi ship – instead, luscious palms and ferns surround them, the sun bright and hot on her nose. She shifts and her clothes are all off – she lets out a delighted laugh as she looks down and finds that her dress has disappeared. Instead she’s wearing a fluffy white top, poofy sleeves covering her arms all the way down to her wrists, and a plaid red and black skort. Layering the white shirt is a vest with the same red as her skort, and her boots are now a soft leather, and nearly reach up to her knees. White and pink socks peek up just above them, and her hand goes to her throat, her heart suddenly leaping.

Her necklace is unchanged. Breathing out, she inspects the gold bangles on her wrists, and grins.

When she looks up, everyone is checking out their own gear. Sora is wearing a long leather coat, a red shirt, and has a pirate hat on. Even Donald and Goofy have changed – Donald is wearing a bandana, and his own coat. Goofy is wearing leather boots, a white poofy shirt like her, and has a bandana that’s similar to Donald’s.

“Ha! We look amazing!” she says. Sora looks at her, abandoning his quest to figure out his new range of movement.

“Yeah, Donald’s pretty good at this,” Sora says. “Your outfit is sweet!” He plucks at her sleeve. “This is so fluffy, heh.”

“Everyone’s looking good.”

Kairi turns to find Riku with one hand on his hip, looking further down the road that they’ve landed on. He’s wearing a white shirt too, though his one doesn’t have any sleeves. Layered over the top of it is a short black vest, and he has a bag at his side, the strap going over his chest to hang on the opposite shoulder. He has three belts looped around his waist and his dark gloves have been replaced with white ones.

“Hey, our boots match,” Kairi points out, moving to his side so she can compare them. Sure enough they look exactly the same.

“Where are we?” Riku asks, but he outstretches his foot so that Kairi can inspect his boots as well.

“The Caribbean!” Goofy says cheerfully. “We’ve been here before, but I don’t recognise the town that’s up ahead.”

“There’s a lot of islands here,” Sora tells them. “It’s kinda like home! Well, except there are way more people than at home, and the islands are usually a lot bigger too. And the towns are _way_ bigger!”

Kairi thinks that she might be able to see the hints of a town up ahead – a roof spotted between two palm trees, the paved road, a few unnatural sounds that can only be made by humans instead of just found in the wild.

“Come on!” she says, and grabs Riku’s arm to pull him along. Sora follows behind just as fast, laughing when Donald and Goofy shout at them to wait up. Kairi’s had enough of waiting – she wants to explore! The familiarity of their surroundings just makes her want to find something to differentiate it all the more.

Still, she slows when they get past the first few houses and come out into what seems to be the town square. There’s a crowd gathered in front of a stage of some kind, uniformed men in bright red standing at attention with guns at their sides.

One man is standing at the front of the stage and has a long piece of parchment in his hands, which he is reading off of.

“…and so, as according to the crimes that I have listed, Jack Sparrow is to be sentenced to death. Post haste.” The last is hissed slightly, and Kairi watches as another two men in uniform bring up a third man, his hands bound in front of him. He’s wearing what Kairi can only describe as a pirate get up, and he sneers at the man with the parchment.

“That’s _Captain_ Jack Sparrow to you.”

“You are Captain of nothing,” the man sniffs. “Now get out of my sight.”

Kairi is just about to suggest that they do something – surely they can’t just watch this, right? – when Sora jostles her slightly.

“That’s Jack! He’s one of our friends,” Sora whispers. “Come on, let’s get over to the other side, near the harbour.”

Well, if he’s a friend, then surely Sora has an idea of how to rescue him. Kairi follows his lead, edging around the crowd between Sora and Riku, eyes on the stage the entire time.

“I _am_ still a Captain, and I’d thank you to remember,” Jack taunts. “And I think I’ll remind you of that.”

The man with the parchment whips around in place from where he’d been descending the steps, just in time to see Jack to do something with his handcuffs, and for them to fall right off. Kairi huffs a laugh, her eyes fixated on the action.

“Catch him!” the man yells, but Jack is already moving, leaping over one guard and sending him careening into the other. He jumps on top of a nearby roof, and starts dodging thrown vegetables, rocks, and gunshots as the rest of the guards start aiming at him. Sora starts running, weaving through the now riotous crowd. Kairi only keeps track of him due to his silly pirate hat.

They burst out onto the docks just in time to see Jack come flying through the air, attached to the end of a rope that’s swinging from the top of a building. Kairi only stares at it for half a second, because she’s still running, but just that amount of time has her mouth hanging open.

“That boat!” Sora yells. There is a ship departing, the end of it just clearing the docks. Kairi watches in amazement as the rope deposits Jack at the end of the correct dock, and he starts sprinting for the ship. Another rope comes sailing towards the wayward pirate, and he grabs it just as he leaps off the end of the dock. In the water, he starts pulling himself, hand over hand, towards the ship.

“How are we gonna catch up?” Kairi asks. They’re all good swimmers, but the boat is departing faster than she has ever seen a ship that large move.

“Heh – watch this. Kairi, grab onto me!”

She does, latching onto his hand, and then the world shrinks, spins, slips, and she’s standing on the boat, reeling slightly. Sora winks at her and then is gone again in a flash of light. Kairi is left standing there, next to the person who is at the wheel of the ship.

“Hold – who are you?!”

It’s a man, his dark eyes surveying her sharply.

“Hi. I’m Kairi,” she introduces herself. “Um… I know someone, who knows Jack?”

“That’s _Captain_ Jack, young lass,” the man in question says, sauntering up to stand by the man at the wheel.

“You’re not the Captain of this ship,” the other man says, long sufferingly.

“Ah Will, I’m the Captain of _my_ ship.”

“Which is missing!”

Sora suddenly appears at her elbow again, depositing Riku by her side. “Hi Jack, hi Will!” he chirps before spinning and leaving again, probably to pick up Donald and Goofy.

“Sora!” both pirates say in unison. Because that’s who they must be, Kairi has to admit. The outfits alone would give them away, but then there was the whole running from the law thing, and the Captain thing that Jack seems to be so pent up about.

“Yes, Sora,” Riku sighs. “I suppose you know him?”

“Hmpf. He’s proved quite the useful lad, in the past. I wonder…”

Jack and Will exchange a significant look, that Kairi takes note of. Sora’s been around a lot of worlds before, helping those he comes across – she wonders what the story is here. She’ll have to ask.

Sora pops onto the deck again, and because she was watching for him she sees the sparkle of magic that spits him out. “You have to teach me that,” she says.

“Airstepping,” Sora says, flashing a grin at her. Donald and Goofy are at his side, and she wonders if he was able to take on the two of them as passengers because he knows them better, or if they just don’t weigh as much as Riku or Kairi. “You’ll probably have to learn how to do a shotlock first, but that’s something that you should learn anyway!” He turns to the two pirates. “So, how have you two been?”

“You’re as mysterious as ever,” Will muses. “But since you are here… if possible, I would solicit your aid once more. The Heartless have returned, and you have always been best able to deal with them.”

Sora cracks his knuckles. “Definitely! It’ll be good practise.” He looks at Riku and Kairi, and puts his hands behind his neck. “Oh right – Riku and Kairi, these are my two friends. You’ve already been introduced to Captain Jack,” he sniggers. “But this is Will. Hey, is Elizabeth around?”

“Right here. I see we’ve picked up more cargo than expected. Though not unwelcome.”

Elizabeth is wearing practical clothes, light brown trousers and a light long sleeved shirt. She smiles when she meets Kairi’s gaze.

“Welcome aboard. Who might you all be?”

“I’m Kairi,” Kairi introduces herself. “And this is Riku!”

“Hey, did you forget us already?” Donald quacks.

Elizabeth laughs. “Of course not. Though it is interesting to see your new friends…” she trails off, clearly evaluating Riku and Kairi.

“You can trust them just like you’d trust me,” Sora grins at her. “Now tell us – what’s this about the Heartless? And where’s the Pearl?”

“The two problems cannot be separated from each other,” Jack says seriously.

“Let me explain,” Will interrupts him. “It all started when a new ship started sailing these waters – with her Captain, who wears a black hooded coat…”

* * *

Sora peers over the side of the ship. Even though it’s dark, the moon is bright enough that he can see the ocean as they make their way through the waves. The wind shifts slightly, and above him the sails of the ship change in tandem with it, groaning quietly in a way that echoes out over the open water.

“So, you’ve returned to a pirate life, have you?”

Sora looks over his shoulder to see Jack coming up towards the section of the railing that he’s standing at.

“Aye aye, Captain,” Sora says, flashing a grin at him.

“Hmm,” Jack says, looking over the edge. “I must say, having you back to help deal with all these scallywags does help a lad sleep at night.”

“You’re not sleeping now,” Sora feels like he has to point out.

“Ah, but the night yet holds promise,” Jack tells him. “Tell me – who are the new friends that you’ve brought along with you?”

Sora leans on the railing and crosses his arms. “They’re my best friends.”

“Ahem.”

“They’ll help when we need to track down the Organisation,” Sora promises.

“You’re a strange lot,” Jack muses. He squints out over the water, as if searching for something. “But I’m glad you’re all helping me recover the Pearl.” He narrows his eyes, searching the depths of the night as if he could just look hard enough, to see his lost ship. “When it was stolen again from under me by that stranger…” His mouth purses unhappily.

“You don’t seem to have a very good track record in keeping it,” Sora feels like he has to point out.

“Ah, you’ve just caught me a bad time.” He pauses. “Twice.”

“Really.”

“Really really.”

Sora quirks a smile at him, but then sighs.

“Riku and Kairi are my friends, but… I’m worried about them. They’re not used to going on adventures like this.” Riku’s Keyblade is lost, Kairi hasn’t really been out in other worlds yet – he’s going to have to make sure that he looks out for them.

“Well then this should be a fine one to get them up to speed,” Jack says. “They’re their own people, Sora. But if you’re so worried… I think I saw your girl up near the stern. Go chat her up.”

Before they really get into anything serious… maybe it’s a good idea. Sora nods decisively. “Okay. I will. Thanks, Jack.”

Jack flourishes a bow at him. “Go to your lady love.”

Sora goes, but he takes his time as he makes his way to the back of the boat. He walks up the stairs, and pauses at the top. Kairi is leaning over the back, watching the waves as the boat cuts through the water. Her new outfit suits her – makes her look older than she is, more like she’s Riku’s age.

“Hey,” he calls quietly. Kairi looks over her shoulder and flashes a grin at him, but then goes back to looking out over the water.

“Hey,” she replies. “Still exploring the ship?”

“Nah,” Sora says. “I’ve been on the Endeavour before. This isn’t the first time that Jack has lost the Pearl. We chased it down last time too. Will and Elizabeth must have somehow wrangled their way into keeping this one.”

She frowns slightly. “You have all this… history, with them.”

“That’s what happens when you go on adventures,” Sora agrees. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m good,” she says. “I don’t know. It’s just… strange. Being out here isn’t what I thought it would be like.”

“What did you think it would be like?”

“I don’t know.” Kairi huffs a breath and then turns to him. “But it’s kinda like being out on the fishing boats at home, when we’d go for overnight trips on Riku’s parents boat. Even dinner was familiar.”

“Aw, not exciting enough for you?”

“Maybe,” Kairi admits. “But we did only just get here – I’m sure things will pick up after we find the Heartless ships.”

“You gotta lean into it – we’re on a real pirate ship!” Sora exclaims. “But it’s okay that you’re still getting used to it. Remember, you can rely on me.” He jabs his thumb into his puffed out chest, just to try and make her laugh. Kairi does smile, her eyes going squinty.

“I know I can count on you,” she says, still smiling. “It’s funny, though. It doesn’t seem all that long ago that we were on the Islands, building our raft…”

“Yeah,” Sora agrees. It’s his turn to look out over the waves, avoiding her eyes.

“Some things haven’t changed though,” Kairi says. “You still have my good luck charm, don’t you?”

“Of course.” Sora digs it out of his bag and shows it to her. The smiley face has faded slightly with the wear of the years, but it’s still clearly the same.

“Good,” Kairi says. She makes no move to take it back, so Sora tucks it away in his pocket again. When he looks at her she’s staring off into the distance.

“Kairi?”

“Hm?”

“What’cha thinking about?”

“Heh. Nothing that concerns you.” She reaches over to tap the tip of his nose cheekily. “I’m going to go back to our room, okay?”

“Room is a bit of an overstatement,” Sora says wryly. “Sure. I’ll see you there.”

Kairi skips off, and Sora watches her disappear. He takes a deep breath to try and settle himself, and turns to the other side of the ship so he won’t run into her on her way down. He still needs some space before he retires for the night himself.

He heads down below deck to explore a little bit by himself – he knows the way to the room that he, Kairi and Riku are sharing, which used to be a storage room before they claimed it. It’s still mostly full of supplies, but they’ve reorganised things with Will’s help to make enough space for the three of them to sleep.

He hears someone talking in the mess room, where they ate dinner earlier. After pausing for a second, he pushes the door in. Riku and Will are sitting at one of the dinky tables, maps strewn out in front of them.

“Sora,” Will says, looking up at him. “I thought you were on watch?”

“My shift ended a while ago,” Sora tells him.

“Aha,” Will murmurs. “Then it is later than I thought. Riku, we should continue discussing this tomorrow. You have some interesting ideas, and I’d like to speak with you further on them.”

“Sure,” Riku agrees easily. Will gathers up the maps, and leaves the mess with a quick good night to both of them.

“Hey,” Sora says, taking Will’s seat. It’s cramped in here – everything under the deck is cramped, too much crammed into a very limited space. Sora tucks his legs up alongside Riku’s, trying to find somewhere comfortable.

Riku offers him his cup, and Sora takes a sip of the water.

“How many times have you been to this world, exactly?” Riku asks wryly. “From how Will and Elizabeth talk about it, it’s like you’ve been friends for years.”

“Well,” Sora says. “The last few times we were here, a lot of stuff went down. Jack, Elizabeth, and Will are good friends. And me, Donald and Goofy have been there for them in some pretty hard times. The Organisation was on this world before… I wonder…” He trails off. Would it be Luxord that is the one giving the royal navy the run around? Who had stolen the Black Pearl, and was orchestrating the chaos on this world? Sora had defeated him on the World That Never Was, but other Organisation members have come back somehow too. He can't say it's impossible. 

“Sora?”

“Hm?” he refocuses on Riku. “Yeah, like I was saying. We’ve got history.” He gives Riku a big thumbs up. “So I definitely want to help them with the Heartless!”

“We would be doing even if we didn’t know them,” Riku points out. “It’s our job to clear the Heartless out of the worlds. They don’t belong here.”

“Yeah,” Sora agrees. “Do you think they’ll ever stop?”

“Hm?”

“Well, the Heartless got released when the Door to Darkness was opened, right? We closed that over a year ago, but there are still plenty of Heartless around.”

Riku props his head on his fist, tapping the fingers of his other hand on the table. “The Heartless make more Heartless. A lot of them escaped – the Door was open for a long time. Unless we somehow find a way to get rid of _all_ of them at the same time… no, I don’t think they’re ever going to go away.”

That was pretty much the answer he’d been expected, but he still feels his gut dip at having it said out loud. All of the worlds are in danger now, and there just aren’t enough Keyblade wielders to go around to all of them and help everyone. “I guess that makes us more important than ever.”

“It does,” Riku says. “It’s also another reason why we need to find Master Aqua, Ventus, and Terra as soon as possible. Another few Keyblade wielders would be nice to have around.”

“Yeah,” Sora agrees. “But while they’re not here, us three are just gonna have to pull double time, you know?”

Riku’s mouth turns upwards at the corners for a moment, but it’s gone so quickly that Sora isn’t sure if he can call it a smile or not. He’s staring at the wall and thinking about something.

“Riku?”

Riku lets out a sigh. “Will was right. It’s late, Sora. We should get some rest. _You_ should get some rest. I…”

“You’ll get your Keyblade back sooner than you think,” Sora tells him. That’s clearly bothering him – but Sora doesn’t think that’s the only thing that’s bothering him. He reaches out and takes Riku’s hands. “C’mon, let’s go back to the room.”

Riku’s fingers close on his, and he nods.

* * *

Kairi doesn’t wait – as soon as the ship is close enough to the island, she vaults the side, and dives into the water.

It’s cooler than the seas at home, despite the warm sun. These clothes are as good as Master Yen Sid promised – they cling to her skin like she’s wearing a swimsuit, and she makes it to the beach of the island in a time that she’s proud of. When she wades out of the water, it only takes a second for the magic in her clothes to take effect, and the water evaporates easily, taking the salt with it. She cards her fingers through her hair wonderingly, and lifts her shoes to check her boots. They’re dry, as are her toes.

“Woo! That was awesome Kairi!”

She looks up, squinting into the sun. Sora is already on the island – he must have used that teleporting thing that he can do to get over here. She points at him.

“You’re way too fast Sora!”

He laughs, and she feels herself grinning alongside him.

“Heh, maybe,” Sora finally manages to say. “But you jumped off the side of the ship before we could even talk about who is coming ashore! Riku said that he would stay behind because Elizabeth was going to show him how to work the cannons, and Goofy, Donald, and Jack will come with us.”

When she looks over his shoulder, she can see a smaller boat cutting through the calm ocean waters towards the island. If they keep on that course, they should get to shore soon.

“So what are we looking for?” Kairi asks, turning to look at the island. There’s a river course that comes down from the top of the island, and it’s almost completely overgrown with thick vegetation. Still, she can see evidence of human movement – there’s crates and nets stacked on the beach, and a trodden down path going deeper into the island.

“Well, like Jack said last night, he remembered a story that he heard once about a black box that was related to this island. So we’re here to check it out, just in case the Organisation has heard the same rumour.”

Kairi summons her Keyblade and whirls it around before propping it on her shoulder. “Well, I’m ready for whatever they throw at me.”

Sora’s smile dims slightly, but he still nods. Kairi almost asks him what’s wrong – their chat last night had made her wonder if something is bothering him. Riku still can’t summon his Keyblade, so she understands why he’s being moodier than normal, but she isn’t sure why Sora is being quieter than normal. It’s bothering her, in turn. Tonight, she tells herself, watching the rowing boat grow closer. She’ll corner him and get him to talk.

Goofy gives her a high five when the boat lands, and the party heads out, following the path that Kairi had spotted earlier. The more she looks, the more she thinks that this place isn’t like the islands at home – she can’t see any familiar plants, and the flowers send a deep and heady scent into the air that isn’t like the crisp ocean scent of Destiny Islands. There are uninhabited islands that she’s explored back home, but the climate there must be less tropical than here, because it tends towards ferns and creepers rather than the wide leafed plants she’s passing now.

They come out into a clearing, and her eyes widen as a bunch of Heartless spawn in the area. Her Keyblade is in her hand almost before she can think, and she takes a second to watch Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Jack, and how they work together.

Sora darts in, with Donald casting magic as support and Goofy trying to draw attention and distract the enemies. Jack darts around the edges, taking out Heartless before jumping back and letting Sora or Goofy take the heat.

She bites her lip and casts fire, smirking as it destroys one of the Heartless. She leaps forwards, and lands a combo on her next chosen target, sliding out of the way of a quick one-two attack.

One Heartless gets separated from the rest, and Kairi concentrates as she pivots towards it, aiming another fire spell towards it. The Heartless dodges, but that move gives her enough time to run up and land a combo, slide out of the way of an attack, and attack again.

The Heartless disappears, and she turns just in time to see the blow before it lands, a larger Heartless than normal throwing her across to the other side of the clearing. She doesn’t know what hurts more – the blow or the landing, and she lies on the ground, wheezing for a good few seconds as she tries to figure out what’s suddenly going on.

By the time she gets to her feet, the rest of the fight is over. She leans on her Keyblade and breathes out as Sora’s cure spell washes over her.

“Kairi!”

“I’m fine!” she calls out. “I’m fine. Thanks, Sora.”

He’s still standing in front of her a second later, tilting his head in that cute puppy like way of his. “You sure?”

“I’m sure,” Kairi says. “Stop fussing. Come on, we need to keep going if we’re going to keep investigating.”

Sora looks at her searchingly. She pats his cheek and heads over to the rest of the group, who are peering at her.

“You ‘right?” Goofy asks.

“Yep,” Kairi says.

“Lass is tougher than she looks,” Jack muses. “Let’s proceed, then.”

The rest of the trip around the island isn’t as exciting. They come across a few more Heartless groups, but they’re dealt with quickly and efficiently. Kairi thinks she’s just getting into the swing of things, learning how to work alongside the others, when they reach the apex of the island and there’s someone standing there, wearing a black cloak.

“Ah.” They turn, but it’s impossible to tell who it is with the hood up.

“Hey!” Sora yells. “The Organisation has no place here!”

“We have the same right to be here as you do,” the hooded figure says. A flip of fabric later and a man with blond hair and a goatee reveals himself, flourishing excessively.

“Luxord,” Donald grumbles. “So you’re back too?”

“Oh, I’d say you shouldn’t count any of us out,” Luxord says. “I assume you are looking for the same thing as I, then? A mysterious black box…” His eyes alight upon Jack. “And I see you’ve asked for the help of the locals. Intuitive… perhaps they might be able to tell me what these Heartless cannot. That is, if the object is even on this world at all. Ah, but I suppose I must take the gamble.”

He flips his hand, and he’s holding a deck of cards suddenly. Just as quickly, he flicks his wrist and he’s only holding one. He regards it for a second before tucking that away as well.

“Sora… keep yourself busy for a while, will you?”

A portal spawns behind Luxord, but before any of their party can move to intercept him, a dozen Nobodies appear. They’re a type that Kairi hasn’t seen before, tumbling and juggling cards and dice from their cloaks.

“Drat,” Goofy says, even as they all pull their weapons out. Kairi yells as she shoots off a fireball, feeling the magic nip at her fingers. It splashes out around the Nobody that she had targeted, and she throws herself into the fight, frustrated that a clue had so easily slipped out between their fingers. Time is running out, and every day that they waste means that the Organisation is closer to fulfilling their goals.

She slams into one Nobody and it shudders before dissolving. Slightly unbalanced, she overcompensates and goes into a roll to keep her feet, coming up with her Keyblade held out. She hadn’t thought they would be that easy to defeat – maybe there’s another trick to them, something that has Sora, Goofy, and Donald warily keeping their distance.

She aims a fire spell at one and it glances off, barely doing any damage. She must have to get in close to deal with them, then. Nothing to it – she grits her teeth runs forward. There’s a twinkle of bells, and she spins in place, a spotlight on her. She squints into the light that is coming from somewhere as one of the Nobodies dances before her, cards and die spinning and twirling above it.

Her feet can’t move, but she’s good at getting out of traps like this, so she doesn’t try to engage at all, instead throwing her Keyblade and hitting it. That seems to stun the Nobody, and gives her ample time to take it out.

She repeats the trick on another two before they’re all gone. Still tense, she pokes around the edges of the rocky clearing, trying to spot if any of them are hiding somewhere.

“Wow Kairi!”

She turns to see Sora heading towards her, Keyblade already dismissed.

“You got out of those traps really coolly! I have a bit of trouble with those, haha…” He rubs the back of his neck. “But you were like – pew! Zoom! Wow!”

“What does that even mean?” she asks, laughing. She dismisses her Keyblade and falls easily into the space beside him.

“It means, you were awesome!” He quiets slightly. “I know I’ve been worried about you, but…”

“It’s okay to worry, silly,” she says, putting her hands on her hips. “I’d be worried if you weren’t worried! I worry about you too, you know. But you don’t have to go overboard with it.”

He quirks a smile at her. “Yeah. Okay.” A gleam enters his eyes. “I bet I can beat you back to the ship.”

“Hey! That’s not fair, you can fly!”

“That’s why it’s a challenge!”

* * *

“Thanks, Elizabeth. I think I’ve got it now.”

She laughs, a sharp sound that is as joyful as it is cutting. “You haven’t seen real battle with the cannons yet – I wouldn’t count you as confident until you have.”

Riku grits his teeth and nods. He’s seen battle – just not like this. She isn’t trying to belittle him, and she’s right, anyway. He’s lucky enough to have her attention for this, to show him how to be useful inside the constraints of this world, when he has nothing else to fall back on.

“You’ll see,” Riku promises her. “You can count on me.”

Elizabeth looks at him for a long second. “If you’re half as useful as Sora, then I’m sure I can.” She looks over his shoulder and smirks. “Looks like they’re coming back – I’ll tell Will.”

Riku turns to look back at the island. There’s twin blurs on the sand, quickly coming closer.

Sora and Kairi will likely be back soon, then. He closes his fist and looks down at it. He’s not wearing his normal gloves – Donald’s magic had created these clothes, and they’re strange, yet comfortable. Like what he would have been wearing, in another life.

He hasn’t tried to cast since he lost his Keyblade, afraid that his magic was lost him as well. He takes a breath and calls on the darkness inside him, trickling it into his palm. When he opens his fist, a small black and purple flame flickers in his hand. It tugs on him in a strange way, though – he closes his fist to quench the flame, but he can still feel the ebb of it in his heart. Maybe the Keyblade softens his magic somehow? Melds it to him. He tries to summon a larger flame than the one that had appeared, and that pulls on him, taking more effort than a fire that large should.

He calls for his Keyblade again, but nothing answers. He sighs. Sora and Kairi are making their way across the water – it looks like Sora has taught her his trick to skipping through the air, crossing distance like it’s nothing.

With a sparkle, both Sora and Kairi appear on the deck of the ship. Kairi laughs, tripping over her own feet and falling into Sora’s arms.

“ _Wow!_ ” Kairi laughs, throwing her arms around Sora’s shoulders. “That’s amazing!”

“I thought you’d like it,” Sora says, grinning down at her.

“Having fun?” Riku asks wryly. “Did you find anything out?”

Both of them straighten, though they’re still hanging off each other. “Yeah,” Kairi says. “There was an Organisation member there!”

“It was Luxord,” Sora says.

It feels like something hard hits Riku’s chest, making it hard to breath. “Luxord?”

“Yep,” Sora nods. “So now we know that they’re definitely interested in this world. I thought there was a few too many Heartless around – Luxord is probably bringing them in to cause chaos and cover his tracks. We’ll just have to keep an eye out and get rid of any that we come across. How’d your lessons go?”

“I’ve got it covered,” Riku says. “This ship is pretty big, but it still kind of feels like being back on my fishing ship.”

“We had that sleep over on it that one time, remember?” Kairi asks, eyes wide. “It does remind me of that, now that you bring it up. Wow, that was a long time ago.”

“Yeah,” Riku agrees.

“Sora!”

“Heh,” Sora says. “Sounds like the others have made it back. I’mma go help them on board!”

He runs off. Riku can hear Jack arguing with Donald about something, and it’s hard to keep a smile off his face.

“So did Luxord say anything?” he asks Kairi, who is leaning over the edge of the railing to an alarming degree. “And what are you doing?”

“Trying to see my reflection in the water,” she says. “And not really. Everything was going fine, there were some Heartless around so we were fighting them, and then Luxord shows up and sics a bunch of Nobodies on us. Not fun.”

“Nobodies are more difficult to deal with than Heartless,” Riku agrees. His chest is still aching. “You were only meant to be on recon, though.”

“Well, can’t predict these things I suppose,” Kairi says.

The ship moves under their feet slightly, and Riku watches as the movement on deck becomes more frantic, the crew rushing around, tightening ropes and hauling on the anchor chain.

“Looks like we’re leaving,” Kairi says. “I’ll go and find out where we’re headed.”

She skips off, and Riku sighs. She and Sora had been out there, fighting Heartless, and he had been on this ship, learning how to fire a cannon, which he probably won’t ever actually do, and which probably wouldn’t help anyone even if he did.

The island that they had gone to looks the same now as they did when they arrived, despite the many revelations that have apparently happened on its shores. Riku watches as it slowly becomes distant, and tries to just enjoy the breeze on his cheeks and the salt in the air. It reminds him of home, and everything that he left behind – even though the most important things are here with him now, he misses the simplicity of the Islands sometimes. When he and Sora and Kairi could just be kids, playing on the beach, dreaming of captaining their own ship. Now that it’s happening, it doesn’t feel quite real.

“Riku!” Sora pops up at his elbow. “Still here?”

“Hm?” Now that Sora mentions it, the direction of the sun has changed quite a bit. He must have been standing here and mulling things over for longer than he had realised. “Oh. Yeah, sorry. What’s happening?”

“Jack told the crew about another island that he thinks might be of interest to Luxord,” Sora says. “I still don’t get why they’re looking for this black box though. What’s in it?”

“Something useful to them,” Riku shrugs. “Does it really matter? If they want it, then it must be something that will help them start the war. Or end it. Which means that we have to stop them, before they get their hands on it.”

Sora pumps a fist in the air. “Yeah! That’s what I’m talking about. You getting fired up too?”

Riku blinks. “Well… not as much as you apparently are.”

“Oh.” Sora deflates. “I was just hoping that getting excited to help out and fight with everyone might help you with your Keyblade situation. If you’re missing it, and you want it back, then won’t that help?”

“I am missing it,” Riku admits, guilt twinging in his stomach. “So there’s no change there. I do want to fight at your side, Sora.”

“Yeah,” Sora says, expression tightening. “There were some times on that island… Kairi was here so I didn’t want to say anything, but she’s still a rookie. If there was someone else around to help watch her back, I’d feel better about her coming along with us.”

“She did say there were a lot of enemies,” Riku says, pursing his mouth. “You all came back fine this time, but I still would have liked to be there.” He looks down at his hands, and doesn’t even try to call his Keyblade. He knows that it won’t answer.

“Kairi’s tough,” Sora says. “But just because we went through a lot of hard times to get as strong as we are, doesn’t mean that she has to too. With our help, she can become as strong as us, and still stay safe!”

He wants nothing more than to keep Kairi safe. “Yeah,” Riku says. “But since I can’t be there right now, you gotta cover for me, okay?”

Sora pouts adorably. “What!? Riku, you’re just slacking off again. Come on man, you can’t leave me with all the work.”

A smile creeps its way onto his face for the first time today. “Heh. I know you can cover for me for a little bit. But when I get my Keyblade back, you better watch out, because I’ll be showing you up at every turn.”

Sora starts posing competitively. “No way! Just watch, I’ll keep getting stronger than you!”

His posturing does make Riku feel slightly better. Just as he’s about to say so, there’s a shout from the bridge.

“Enemy spotted!”

“Looks like you’ll get to show off your skills,” Sora says, grinning at him. “A sea battle! Yeah!”

He sprints off, heading for the bridge. Riku goes to the other side to see the two sailing boats approaching. They look similar to the Endeavour, except for the ominous smoke that swirls around them.

“Port cannons, at the ready!”

Riku closes his eyes for a second, and runs for the ammo. Time to see if he was telling the truth to Elizabeth or not.

The loading and firing of the cannons becomes mechanical after the tenth round. Riku keeps his focus on what he’s doing, but he also makes sure that he’s aware of what’s going on around him as he does so. Even if he can’t fight, that doesn’t mean that he can’t avoid getting hit by a flying fireball, or one of the chains that the floating Heartless are throwing around.

Sora and Kairi are the stars of the action, of course. It’s almost mesmerising to watch them spin through the air together, Sora casting aero to give Kairi a boost so she can shoot up high and attack the Heartless that are hovering above them all and raining down projectiles. She’s getting better and better with her Keyblade, and Riku has to grin as she casts thunder, using the fact that she’s surrounded only by enemies to her advantage. 

Jack is on the deck, his sword out and driving back any Heartless that try to distract the crew who are still arming and firing the cannons. Riku dives out of the way of one sword, drops a cannon ball, snatches it back up, and spins in place just in time to see a fireball coming his way. He doesn’t think – just pulls himself through the long shadows on the deck, and appears on the other side of the ship, next to the cannon he’s been helping fire.

The two crew members who are standing there goggle at him, and he just shrugs at them before loading the cannon for the next round. So he can still cast fire, and can still move through the shadows – how much of his power is intrinsic? How much is governed by his Keyblade?

Kairi shouts, and he looks over to see Sora casting cure and then going after a nearby Heartless. He grits his teeth and sparks the cannon with a snap of his fingers.

Kairi lands on their ship with a heavy thud, and dives into an attack against a Heartless that has made it on board. Riku cartwheels as it sends a chain out and destroys the cannon that he had been tending to, and sends a cast of dark fire towards it, trying to distract it from Kairi. It works, and Riku barely manages to dodge the next attack.

“Riku!” Kairi shouts, and he doesn’t have the time to respond before he’s hit by something large, heavy, and hard, and is thrown over the side and into the water.

In the half second he has before he hits the water, he covers his nose and mouth with one hand, grips his shirt with the other, and curls his legs up. The impact comes from his left side, and the cold water is a shock after the heat of the sun. He sinks for a second, but then squints to locate the surface, and swims towards it.

He breaches and spits out some water, before wiping his eyes and looking around. There doesn’t seem to be any Heartless in the water (yet), but no one is paying attention to him, the battle still raging overhead between the two ships. The second Heartless ship has been sunk, and he starts paddling towards the wreckage of it, hoping to find some kind of wood he can either cling to or climb on. He can’t rely on anyone from the Endeavour taking the time to throw him a line when there’s Heartless on board.

The ship hasn’t sunk all the way yet, and Riku manages to find some wood that lets him climb up to rest. He runs a hand through his hair to try and get some of the water out, only to find that he’s already dry. It must be a part of the magic that Master Yen Sid had hinted at when he’d passed along these clothes. The Heartless ship is on fire, but he can’t hear many cannons firing anymore. The shine of Kairi’s light magic is the brightest thing that stands out, and he waits almost breathlessly between casts of it, hoping that she’s okay.

It’s another half hour before the Heartless ship is sunk and all the Heartless are dealt with. Riku is the last person to be picked up, since he’s the only person who went overboard who made it to the other boat. Will is rowing the shore boat that eventually comes for him, and he looks exhausted, covered in soot and blood.

“Riku,” he calls. “Good to see you.”

“Good to see you as well,” Riku says. “Here, let me row. You look like you need a break.”

“I’d be happy to,” Will says, letting Riku take his position when he jumps into the row boat. His fingers twitch as he takes up the oars. He’d felt the potential of his doubleflight when he’d jumped, too. Interesting.

“You can row just as well as any of the crew,” Will remarks when they’re halfway back to the Endeavour.

“I grew up on a fishing boat,” Riku tells him. “We had a dingy just like this one.” He hasn’t piloted a ship like this in a while, though. It’s difficult to steer in the direct direction of the Endeavour, and he doubts he can row for long. Still, he should be able to get them there eventually.

“Hm,” Will hums, and then takes a sharp lookout, obviously trying to spot anyone else that had been overlooked. A rope comes down from the Endeavour when they reach her, and Riku helps attach it to the shore boat, and then waits as it’s hauled back up on board.

Sora is talking to Elizabeth, who is holding a map. Since the shore boat is taken by some of the crew, Riku makes his way over to them.

“The reef?”

“There’s one around this island, which makes it difficult to get to on a ship with a large draft,” Elizabeth is saying. “But I suppose you could… use your talents to make your way there from the deck without having to deploy a shore boat. That doesn’t help anyone else join you, however.”

“I think Kairi is starting to get the hang of airstepping,” Sora says. “So she could come with me, but it would probably be better to have a few more people come along with us.”

“I agree with that,” Riku says, joining them.

“Hey Riku,” Sora says, putting his hands behind his head. “While you were swimming about, you won’t guess who showed up again! It was Luxord, and he told us to come to this island. Didn’t say why, but said that the next clue for this black box would be there. Kairi and Donald think it’s a trap, but I still think we need to go.”

“Not alone, though.” Riku frowns as he looks at the map. The island that is being referred to has the markings of a dense coral reef almost completely surrounding it. Without a pilot familiar with the area to guide them, it will be almost impossible to land a boat of any size. 

“We need to stop whatever he’s planning,” Sora says firmly.

“We do,” Riku says. “But you don’t have to do it by yourself.”

Sora’s mouth flattens. “Are you saying I can’t do it by myself?”

“You’re still recovering from Xehanort’s attack on your heart,” Riku says quietly. “And Kairi is still inexperienced. I can’t be there for you in a fight, but I can make sure that you’re not underprepared when going into one. Come on, Sora. Aren’t you the one always telling me about the power of friendship?”

Sora sighs, but his expression lightens. “Yeah, I am. Sorry, it’s just…”

“Frustrating to not be able to do what you’re used to?” Riku asks.

“Yeah.” He looks up at Riku guiltily. “Sorry, I know that–”

“It’s fine,” Riku says, aware of Elizabeth watching them. “Let’s just think about this some more, okay? We can ask Jack, he might have been here in the past.”

Sora gives him a thumbs up. “Sounds like a great idea!” Riku watches as he sprints off.

“I didn’t mean right this second, but sure, that works,” Riku mumbles to himself.

“Are you faring well?” Elizabeth asks him.

Riku hesitates, trying to think of a way to frame it for her in a way that she’ll understand. “I was… injured, recently. So was Sora. So we’re trying to recover, but it’s taking longer than either of us would like.”

Elizabeth regards him for a few seconds. Riku tries not to fidget under her gaze. “I see. Well, then I thank you for aiding us despite your poor health.”

“This might be the only way to get back to normal,” Riku tells her. “So we’ll keep fighting. Don’t worry. Leave the Heartless and Luxord to us.”

“I fear I have little choice in that regard,” Elizabeth says. “I saw you on the cannons. Excellent work, Riku.”

She rolls up the map and leaves him standing there. The ship is already moving again, likely towards the island that Luxord had mentioned, despite there being no way to land a party yet. Riku looks out over the water, and turns to go and find Kairi.

* * *

Kairi runs her hand over the thick rope that’s curled around the mast. There’s something different about the rope in this world compared to back home – not that she spent much time on working boats besides when Riku’s parents would take them out for a trip, but she can still tell that it’s not the same. Something about the texture, maybe.

The ship is mostly quiet now, everyone recovering after the attack this afternoon. There’s a bright moon in the sky, and the stars are shining, sharper than she remembers them being in any other world. Maybe that’s another effect of being so far out at sea. She’s tired too, but there’s still tension coiled in her chest. She had trouble sitting still to eat dinner, and retiring to the tiny cabin that she’s sharing with Sora and Riku seems impossible.

There’s a few people up near the wheel, so she avoids that part of the ship, heading towards the bow where there isn’t anyone else. Maybe she can swing her Keyblade around a little – that might make her feel better.

She pokes around a little, but there’s no one on the front deck so she summons her Keyblade, trying to make it shine as little as possible when she does so. There’s still a soft chime, but the bright flowers that usually accompany it appearing are absent. Smiling, she executes an overhead slash, testing.

The battle today had been fine – just fine. She’d defeated some Heartless. Sora had still had to sweep in and take out a big one that had backed her into a corner, and she’d been too slow to stop Riku being thrown overboard. She has to get faster, stronger. This trip is a good starting point, but Xehanort isn’t going to wait, and she isn’t going to be helpless against him ever again. Having been at Xemnas’s mercy once is enough for her. It still burns, to think of her time in a cage. 

She aims for the top of the mast, feeling for that _catch and hold_ sensation that lets her jump through space. There’s a tug in her chest, and a second later she appears on the mast. She nearly overbalances, whirling her arms wildly. As soon as she can, she aims back for the bow and airsteps to safer and more steady ground.

Back with the solid deck under her feet, she twirls her Keyblade, imagining a Heartless standing in front of her. The last few days have been eye opening, for a few reasons. Fighting out here is nothing like fighting in Merlin’s simulations, though she would have been far worse off if she hadn’t gone through those. She just isn’t fast enough, most of the time, to be where she wants to be. She needs to read the flow of the battle better, to be in the space where she can best utilise her talents, to actually take advantage of those moments. It’s all well and good enough to _see_ an opening, but if she can’t take it, then what’s the point?

She’s had an idea from the airstepping. She looks at her Keyblade, how it glows slightly in the darkness. Throwing her Keyblade around today had been useful, and had allowed her to get around some of the Heartless. But that didn’t help if _she_ wasn’t in the right spot. Maybe…

She throws her Keyblade, watching as it spirals out over the water. A heartbeat, and she calls it back to her hand, where it immediately reappears. The airstepping – does she need to be _holding_ her Keyblade to do that? There needs to be an anchor, somewhere to move to, but if she can _make_ one…

She throws her Keyblade out over the water again, thinking. Riku can blend into the shadows, turn into a ball of light, and speed across the battlefield. She can call her Keyblade to herself. Airstepping is more magic than anything, and she doesn’t need a Keyblade to do magic.

“You still out here?”

She turns to find Sora coming down from the main deck, watching her.

“There a reason you’re throwing your Keyblade around?” he asks, one eyebrow raised.

“Just experimenting,” she answers. “I’ve been thinking of a new move, but I haven’t really tried to pull it off yet.” This isn’t great terrain for it. She recalls her Keyblade, and goes through a few more motions, feeling Sora’s attention on her as she moves.

Sora steps into her path, and she’s forced to stop before she runs into him. “What?” she asks, looking at him.

“We have to fight tomorrow,” he says, eyes wide in the darkness. The soft light of the moon is reflected in them. “I don’t want you to use up all your energy before then.”

She pouts so she doesn’t kiss him. “I’ll be fine for tomorrow.”

“Not if you stay up all night training,” Sora says. “I know it’s hard, but you have to rest to be at your best.”

“Then why are you up here?” Kairi presses, pushing a finger into his chest.

“Trying to find you,” Sora says. “You weren’t in the cabin.”

“I’ll come down later,” Kairi says, but she folds her hands behind her back and looks down as she says it. She isn’t sure when she would head down if no one were to encourage her to rest.

Sora leans in, and she lets out a breath as he nudges his nose against her cheek. She turns her head so their lips meet, and Sora reaches up to put his hand on the back of her neck. She grips the front of his shirt and nips his lower lip slightly, feeling the heat there.

They stand like that for a minute, feeling each other’s warmth against the chill of the wind. It’s cool out here on the open sea, with little to catch and keep the heat of the sun. Sora cradles her softly, and she leans on his shoulder, just happy to be close.

“Are you sure you aren’t the one who needed something?” she asks, half teasing and half serious.

Sora hesitates. “Maybe.”

“What’s going on?” Kairi presses. “Talk to me, Sora.”

Sora sighs. “It’s just… Fights that I should be able to breeze through are hard enough right now, and having to watch your back without Riku to help is a lot of work. I just want to keep you safe, and I know that Riku has it worse than me right now because he can’t use his Keyblade at all, but I still feel like I should be doing better than I am.”

She hooks her hands around his back so there’s no chance of him escaping. “Sora,” she starts. “You shouldn’t dismiss Riku – you saw how he helped me today! I was the one who was left feeling like I couldn’t protect him when he got knocked off the side of the boat.”

“Riku was fine,” Sora tries to protest, and Kairi kisses him again. Sora’s hands frame her waist, and she breaks away, feeling lightheaded.

“I would have been fine, too,” she says. The night feels warmer, suddenly – or maybe she’s just running hot. “You don’t have to be so protective of me.”

“I’m just worried about you,” Sora admits.

“You’ve seen how much ass I can kick,” Kairi argues. “You’ve seen how fast I’m getting better!”

“Against the Heartless, you can usually hold your own,” Sora admits.

“You would have trouble fighting them all if you were fighting alone,” Kairi says. “That’s why we work together, right? So we can cover for each other, and if something happens that isn’t normal, or someone makes a mistake, it’s not the end of the story. If we just keep doing that, then we should be strong enough to make a stand against anything, don’t you think?”

“We’re stronger together,” Sora agrees. “When we’re together… even though you still need backup sometimes, I like you coming along with us because I can keep an eye on you.”

“You don’t have to,” Kairi says, pursing her mouth. “Donald and Goofy will cover for me too, just like I’ll cover for all three of you. And when Riku gets his Keyblade back, he’ll watch my back and I’ll watch his. I don’t need any special treatment.”

Sora looks at her searchingly. “I know, but… that still doesn’t stop me worrying.”

Kairi sighs, and reaches up to tuck some hair behind his ear. It’s charmingly fluffy, but wearing his big pirate hat all day has made a mess of it. “You’re cute. You know that you’re still allowed to worry about the people that you care about, right? Just don’t… don’t treat me like I can’t take care of myself. You care about Donald and Goofy too, don’t you? But you trust them to help you, to watch your back, and you don’t hesitate before asking them to fight with you.”

Sora struggles with that for a few seconds. “That’s different.”

“How?”

“They aren’t my girlfriend.”

She looks at him. Sora’s mouth twists, but he doesn’t take it back.

“So that means I’m somehow less capable of looking after myself?” Kairi presses.

“No,” Sora sighs. “But it’s still different, especially since you’re still learning. I’m sorry, I don’t want you to feel like I’m being overbearing, but that’s how I feel.”

She bites her lip, sawing it between her teeth as she tries to think of an appropriate answer. “You’re trying to give me space,” she finally says. “I can tell. Like I said, it’s okay for you to be worried, but don’t let it affect how you fight. How can you swoop in to rescue me if I’m too busy trying to rescue you because you were distracted and messed up?”

Sora snorts. “Ha. Yeah, I guess that’s true.”

“So we’re agreed that we should both do our best while looking out for each other?”

A soft smile makes its way over his mouth. “Agreed.”

“Then we’re agreed that we both need to get some rest.”

His smile broadens. “Agreed.”

She leans over and kisses him again before pulling him towards the door that leads under the deck. “Then come on. I think we’ve kept Riku waiting long enough.”

“Yeah,” Sora murmurs, and takes her hand. Kairi squeezes it as they head inside.

* * *

“So that’s the island?”

“Yep.”

“It’s pretty far off.”

“Yep.”

“Looks like it’ll be a pain to get to.”

“Yep.”

“We probably won’t have much backup.”

“Yep.”

“Can you say anything besides yep?”

“Yep.”

Riku turns on Sora, who sticks his tongue out in response. “You’re impossible,” Riku says fondly. Sora perks up at hearing that tone – Riku hasn’t brought it out in a while. Maybe he is getting through to him.

“Yep,” Sora grins, tilting his head. If he’s going to tease Riku out of his funk, he’s going to have to keep this up, but he’s off to a good start. 

“Are you two playing nice?” Kairi says, coming up along behind him and squeezing between the two of them so that she can lean over the railing. They’ve already anchored as close as the Endeavour can get, but the beach is still far away. The tide is low, and he can see the sharp coral edges every now and then as the waves break over them.

“Just discussing how we’re getting to the island,” Sora says. Riku side eyes him, and Sora winks at him.

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Kairi says. “Sora, can you take our party across, like you did when we first boarded the Endeavour?”

Sora shifts his weight. “Honestly, that was the first time I ever tried to do that.”

“Really?” Kairi asks, surprised. “It all seemed so natural.”

“Yeah… and I’m not really sure how to do it again,” Sora says awkwardly. “But I guess I could try?”

“That would let us get a small party out there, but it does hinder our options in getting back,” Riku points out.

“We wouldn’t need to worry about options getting back if we win!”

“Aye, that sounds like the Sora I know.” Jack descends from the bridge to join them. “Alas, every good pirate should have a good escape plan. Just in case things get… hairy.”

“Like how we met in town?” Riku asks wryly.

“Savvy,” Jack says, pointing at him. “Well, that was more of a back up plan, of the back up plan. Option of last resort, as they say.”

“That still doesn’t solve our problem of how to get to the island,” Kairi points out.

“It seems obvious to me.” Another voice, as Elizabeth and Will come up from below decks. “Sora, you do your… thing, that you did. Will and I will manage the Endeavour while the party goes ashore, and we will deploy two shore boats to navigate the reef while you do so. By the time you have finished your task, they should be waiting on the beach for you, with an idea of how to get out again as well.”

The group mull it over for a few seconds.

“It’s just going to be us, right?” Sora asks.

“You’re the only ones who can deal with those Heartless,” Will admits. “When it’s other ships, we and the crew can help, but otherwise I only think we’d be getting in your way.”

Sora nods. He did it once, so he should be able to do it again, right? Plus he has a bit of time to figure it out. They don’t need to be on the island immediately.

“Okay,” Sora says. “Sounds like a plan. If you could get the shore party together for our extraction, we’ll head out.”

“Extraction?” Kairi giggles. “How long have you been waiting to use that for?”

Sora pouts at her. “Hey, I know what it means! I can use it whenever I want.”

“I’ll see who would like to go ashore,” Will says wryly, turning and heading over to where a few crew members were standing around the rigging.

“Try and sort everything out soon,” Elizabeth says, turning to follow him. “I would like this whole thing to be over as soon as possible. And for Jack to leave my boat. That man is quite impossible.”

“I’ll go and tell Donald and Goofy,” Kairi says, running off to the aft.

“I’ll go with the shore party,” Riku says suddenly. “I’ll be there when you guys get back.”

“Huh?” Sora asks, turning to look at him. “Aren’t you coming with us?”

Riku blinks. “But… I don’t have a Keyblade.”

“So?” Sora asks. “Wasn’t the whole point of you coming along on this journey so you could find it again? Master Yen Sid said that you had to see some danger, and since you still don’t have your Keyblade, I think you have been chilling out too much.”

“Chilling out,” Riku repeats dubiously.

“Yep,” Sora says, leaning forward. “You’re not getting away with it anymore! Besides, even if you can’t fight, you can still use items, right? If you stay out of the thick of it you should be fine.” He pauses. “Unless you don’t want to come along?”

“I want to come,” Riku says hurriedly. “I mean. If you think it’s a good idea.”

Sora grabs his hand. “I just said why I thought it was a good idea. So you in or not?”

Riku huffs. “Of course I’m in. You only had to ask.”

 _I shouldn’t have had to ask at all,_ Sora thinks, looking at his boyfriend. There’s a hesitance to Riku’s actions that he’s never quite seen in him before. Losing his Keyblade must have shaken him harder than Sora had realised, or that Riku had been letting on. All the more reason to get it back as soon as possible, in Sora’s opinion. Riku coming with them should only help with that.

“Hey Sora!” Donald quacks from behind him. “We’re ready to leave when you are! So are you going to tell us how you did that teleporting thing, or are you just going to snatch us up again with no warning like last time?”

“You have some warning this time,” Sora replies. “Now come on, we’re wasting time.”

They go to the prow of the boat, since that’s the closest part to the island. Sora squints out at it, trying to find an appropriate landing point, something to aim for. There’s the wreck of a ship between the island and the Endeavour, but it’s still in the ocean rather than on shore. Still, Sora decides that it’s a good way to hop closer and try to see if there’s anything on the island itself that he can use to jump to.

“Okay, who wants to go first?” he asks.

“I’ll come,” Goofy volunteers.

“Cool,” Sora says. “We’ll go to that shipwreck first since it’s closer, and then to the island itself. Hang on!”

Goofy grabs his arm, and Sora grabs him, summons his Keyblade, and aims. It’s a little different to how he airsteps normally – instead of letting himself go and focusing only on his Keyblade, he has to keep a constant concentration on the person with him. He knows Goofy well though, so it’s easy to keep a hold of him as they jump through the air, landing precariously on the rotting deck of the ship.

“Woah!” Goofy calls as they nearly overbalance and land in the ocean anyway. Sora reaches out to clutch at a beam, angling himself towards the island. There’s a particularly large tree on the shore that he decides will do, and without any fuss he drags Goofy after him.

They land on the beach heavily, but luckily neither of them lose their feet. Sora looks around. The sand is squeaky under his feet, and he can’t see any evidence that there has been humans here recently.

Darkness whooshes, and Heartless start popping up around them.

“Sora!” Goofy cries.

“I’m here,” Sora says, falling into a crouch. With just Goofy he has to keep a sharper eye out, and plays more defensively than he normally does, retreating after one combo instead of pressing his advantage. It means that the battle drags on slightly, but it isn’t too long before they’ve cleared out the beach.

“Gosh, that was quite the welcoming party wasn’t it?” Goofy asks.

“Will you be okay while I get the others?” Sora asks.

“Sure will be,” Goofy says. “If any more Heartless come along, I’ll just have ta keep them busy until you get back!”

“Heh. Alright.”

Sora turns back to the shore. From here, the Endeavour looks tiny, much further away than he’d originally thought. He aims at the shipwreck instead of jumping directly, and airsteps from there to the deck of the Endeavour.

“Are you okay?” Kairi asks as soon as he lands. “We saw you fighting.”

“Just a few Heartless,” Sora shrugs. “We could deal with them. Who wants to go next?”

“I’ll–”

“Take me,” Riku says, cutting off Kairi. Sora looks between them, and Kairi looks at Riku, but Riku holds his ground and Sora shrugs.

“Okay, come on then. Hang on tight.”

Riku threads his fingers between his, and Sora ignores the flutter in his chest as he aims for the mast of the shipwreck. Riku’s balance is better than his is, so it’s only another few seconds before they’re on the beach again.

“Heya Riku,” Goofy greets.

“Hey Goofy,” Riku says.

“I’ll go back for the others,” Sora says. The sooner they’re all on the island, the sooner they can start exploring.

“Go for it,” Riku says, already looking into the forest.

Sora jumps from the shipwreck to the Endeavour’s deck, but neither Donald, Jack, nor Kairi are where he left them. He can hear them talking though, so he goes up to where they’re standing at the wheel.

“Sora,” Kairi says. “We’re just talking about a secret entrance the island might have.”

“A secret entrance?” Sora asks, intrigued. “How can an island have a secret entrance?”

“Islands like these have been havens for clever pirates who have discovered their secrets,” Elizabeth says.

“I thought this island might be one that I had heard of before,” Jack says.

“And he only thought to mention this now,” Will sighs. “It might be an easier way to get in for the shore boats, if we can find the way through the coral.”

“It shouldn’t change anything about our foray party,” Jack says. “But send the others over first – I’ll keep looking at this map.”

“Come on Sora,” Donald quacks. “You can take me next.”

They go back to the jump off point, and Sora holds Donald close as they airstep to the shipwreck and then the beach. Sora nails the landing, and it just about to congratulate himself when a fireball launches towards his face.

“Sora!” Riku shouts, and Sora just manages to throw up a reflect in time to bounce the spell back towards the Heartless who cast it.

“Glad y’all made it,” Goofy says as he charges a nearby Heartless. Sora and Donald quickly join the fight, teaming up with Goofy and Riku to clear the beach. Riku casts a blast of dark fire at one of the Heartless, which almost distracts Sora enough that he gets a hit to the face.

Riku is scratched up and bleeding. Sora casts cure over him and he lets out a breath of relief. “Thanks.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Sora says. “Did they just spawn again out of nowhere?”

“They sure did,” Goofy confirms. “But now that more of us are here, we should be able to win any more battles.”

“I’ll be quick in fetching Jack and Kairi,” Sora promises. He lingers for a seconds, looking over Riku to make sure that he isn’t hurt anywhere else, but Riku waves him off. Sora goes back to the Endeavour to find Kairi twisting her bracelet around her wrist, staring intently at the shipwreck.

“You ready to go?” Sora asks.

She sucks in a breath. “I want to try going by myself.”

“Ah,” Sora says. He looks back towards the shipwreck, and then at Kairi again. He wants to say that he should take her across – it’ll be faster, less riskier. But their conversation from last night is still at the front of his mind, so he forces himself to nod. “Okay. Just be careful on the shipwreck, it’s not very stable. Try and jump from there to the beach as fast as you can.”

Kairi nods, eyes fixed on the shipwreck. She calls her Keyblade and tenses, crouching slightly. The next moment she’s gone, flashing through the air fast than Sora can keep track of her. He sees a spark of light on the shipwreck, and then he lets out a breath that he hadn’t realised he’d been holding when he sees the spark make it to shore.

“That’s one fiery lass you’ve got there,” Jack says, coming up behind him.

“You ready to go?” Sora asks, his grin only slightly shaky. _She’s fine. She’s been practising. She can handle herself._

Jack offers his hand. “I don’t think I’ll ever be ready, but we never can be in life, you understand?”

Sora takes his hand, and they jump, from the shipwreck to the shore. When they land on the beach, the pirate bends over, groaning slightly.

“That is not something any pirate should have to go through,” he complains.

“We’ve got company!” Kairi calls, and sure enough, there are more Heartless spawning, more than there had been before. Sora tightens his grip on his Keyblade and dives into the battle, aware of Jack still standing with his hands on his knees, and Riku hanging back near the water, darkness flickering at his fingertips as he watches the Heartless warily.

It seems like just as fast as he dispatches the Heartless, more come to fill their place. Jack joins the fray after a few minutes, and that gives them a quick advantage that temporarily turns the tide, until Sora hears Riku shout in pain. He turns to look, and gets hit for his troubles, flying through the air. He hears Kairi call his name, but he’s back on his feet in a second, gritting his teeth but persisting.

There’s a Heartless chasing Riku, and Sora tears after it, skipping over the beach rather than running, magic giving him speed. Riku turns suddenly and casts a larger ball of dark fire at the Heartless, but that only stops it for a second.

Sora uses that second to slice through the Heartless, putting his full force and fury behind the strike. It dissipates and he almost runs into Riku, who is looking on the haggard side. Sora lifts his Keyblade and casts cure over them both, even though that digs into his mana painfully. He runs a hand over his face and turns back to the fight, just in time to see Kairi yell and defeat the last Heartless on the beach.

“You okay?” Sora asks, turning back to Riku. He just grunts in response, and starts trudging back to the others. Sora stays at his side, and isn’t very surprised when Riku throws a hi-potion to Kairi.

“Riku?” Kairi asks, trotting over to them. “Are you alright?”

Riku’s shoulders go tense, and for a strange moment Sora is sure that Riku is going to shout. But then he just breathes out, and his shoulders slump. “I’m fine, Kairi. Sora helped me out.”

She’s looking at him with wide eyes. “Okay. Thanks for going after that Heartless and distracting it, it bought me a second to get rid of that other one that was on my tail.”

Riku nods. “Don’t worry about it.” He stalks off towards a path that Sora can see from this angle of the beach. Sora turns to Kairi, who’s forehead is creased with a frown.

“Come on, we should go after him,” Sora says. Kairi nods, determination overtaking her expression.

Donald, Goofy and Jack are a little ways down the beach, clustered around something in the sand and talking over it, but at the moment Sora thinks that Riku is more important. He takes off at a jog after his wayward boyfriend, who has already disappeared into the trees.

Luckily, he hasn’t gone too far, and they find him quickly. He’s staring at a tree that has fallen across the path – a bit annoying to jump over, but they should all be able to cross it.

“Riku,” Sora calls out, but he doesn’t turn. He exchanges a glance with Kairi.

“Hey,” Kairi says softly, and goes to touch his arm gently. She murmurs something to him that Sora doesn’t catch, and he hangs back a little, letting her talk. Kairi has always been better at getting through to Riku than him, bringing him out of his stormy moods. When they were younger, it used to be Sora who could get him to forget whatever trouble he was working himself into, but after everything they’ve been through, it’s Kairi’s gentle touch that Riku leans into the most.

Riku shakes his head, and then turn so he can look at Sora. “It’s nothing,” he says to them both. “Just – sorry for making you worry. And not being able to help as much as I should.”

“Huh?” Sora says.

“Riku,” Kairi admonishes. “The whole point of this trip is to help you, isn’t it?”

“No,” Riku says. “It’s to help you and Sora get stronger. I’m just here because it’s convenient.”

Kairi’s mouth goes flat. “You’re not an inconvenience to us, Riku.”

“Kairi’s right,” Sora says. “We’re here to help you get your Keyblade back.”

“Then–” Riku cuts himself off.

“You don’t have to fix everything by yourself,” Kairi says. “And it doesn’t have to happen overnight, either. You can have some space to just breathe, to figure things out.”

Riku’s hands form fists at his side. “We don’t have the time to just figure things out!”

“Yes we do,” Kairi says firmly. “Because we have to. We need you Riku. I don’t want to fight anyone if you’re not here at my side. Having you here as support makes me feel so much better. And I know Sora likes having you here too.”

“I do,” Sora says. “I don’t want… us to be separated again. I know that there’s a lot to do, but we should try to do it together, wherever we can. Because we’re a team, alright?”

“But–”

“Don’t be silly,” Kairi chides him. “There’s no buts in that sentence. Sora is right. We are a team.”

“I’m letting you guys down,” Riku mumbles, and Kairi wraps her arms around him. Sora is quick to follow, and they stand there in the forest, Riku’s hands still in fists at his side, but with Sora and Kairi’s arms around him.

“Master Yen Sid said that it might take a while,” Sora points out after a minute. “Whenever you’re ready, you’ll know it. And I know that you’ll be ready at the right time. Because you’ve never let me down before, not when it really mattered. And I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon.”

“Sora,” Riku says, pain in his voice, but Sora just squishes his face against Riku’s chest.

“I mean it.”

“We don’t have time for this,” Riku says, and it’s like everything inside him just bursts. “Master Aqua – she’s suffering, and it’s my fault that we haven’t rescued her, and Mickey is out there without me to support him because I’m useless at the moment, and the Organisation is just getting stronger by the day, and we need to find and protect the Princesses of Heart, and every night I can’t sleep because I’m worried about them going after Kairi and me being just – _useless,_ and standing there and doing nothing while she’s taken away–”

“Riku,” Kairi says, muffled against his shoulder.

“And even though I’m supposed to be a Master now I don’t even have a Keyblade – what kind of Master loses their Keyblade?”

“Riku,” Sora says, poking the centre of his chest.

“And I don’t know what I’m even supposed to be doing to get it back, and–”

“Riku!”

He shuts up in the face of their combined shout.

“We’re worried about those things too,” Sora says, after a few seconds of silence. “But we have to tackle these things one at a time, you know?”

“I’m worried about both of you, and I’m sure both of you are worried about each other too,” Kairi says. “And that’s fine. But it’s counterproductive to focus overly so on it.”

“I just think that I’m feeling powerless without my Keyblade,” Riku says, voice subdued. “And the last time I was like this, I…”

“This is different to last time,” Sora says firmly. “Did Master Yen Sid tell you anything else about summoning your new Keyblade?”

Riku hesitates for a second. Kairi leans in and stares at him pointedly. “We can’t help you if we don’t know how,” she points out.

“We already know about the danger thing, and I think we’ve got that down,” Sora says.

“He also said that I should think about what has changed, between now and back when I got my first Keyblade,” Riku admits. “There’s so much though…”

“And you’ve been too busy sitting up at night worrying about everything else,” Kairi huffs. “Come on, Riku. Tell us about it.”

He sighs silently. “It’s just… I _am_ a different person now. We’ve all changed, with everything that has happened. I stepped into the darkness, and stepped back out, but putting it that simply seems like I’m missing too much.”

“Your old Keyblade showed up when you were the most seeped in darkness, right?” Sora asks. “So maybe your new Keyblade will show now that you’re standing in the light.”

Riku shakes his head. “That’s the thing, I don’t feel like I am. I still use the darkness, it’s just that I have control of it now. I’m not standing in the light, but I know who I am.”

“You sure?” Kairi asks.

There’s a much more loaded silence. Riku lifts his arms and puts one around Sora and one around Kairi.

“Yeah,” Riku eventually says.

Kairi presses a kiss against his shoulder, and then Riku leans down to properly kiss her. Sora leans over hopefully and Riku lets out a huff of breath before he kisses him too.

“We should get back to the others before they begin to think that we’ve gotten lost in here somehow,” Kairi says after several more kisses.

“Or that we ditched them to make out. Oh, wait,” Sora says.

Kairi laughs and smacks his shoulder playfully. Riku laughs, quietly, like all of his laughter is nowadays.

“Okay then,” he says. “Come on, let’s go.”

* * *

Riku thinks as they ascend to the top of the island.

The jungle is thick, but there must be some sort of wildlife around because there’s enough game tracks for them to make their way through it. It is the biggest island that they’ve come across so far, besides the port town that they started in. There’s a mountain peak at the centre, and the party works together, more seamlessly with each fight. Riku hangs out at the edges, keeping an eye out for anyone who might need a potion, and throws dark fire as a distraction when he needs to.

He hasn’t tried to summon his Keyblade again yet. He feels more solid, grounded in himself, more confident. But there’s still a part of him that fears what it might mean if he tries to summon his Keyblade and it won’t come. He’s biding his time, waiting for a sign, for something that might show him that he’s ready.

After a particularly long fight, they all regroup in the middle of a convenient clearing. There had been a Nobody or two in that fight along with the Heartless, so they must be getting close.

“Those were some great moves,” Riku tells Kairi. “I thought you were a goner for sure, but then you pulled out that light trick, and they were gone!”

She smiles at him shyly. “I’ve been working on my light magic,” she says. “It’s not very reliable yet, though. It was a last resort option there, but I’m glad it worked out.”

“It didn’t look like a last resort option to me,” Riku replies. “It looked smooth. Practised.”

She blushes slightly. “Thanks.”

“Hey guys, there’s a rest point ahead!” Sora’s shout echoes back to them through the trees. Riku resists the urge to sigh. Well, there shouldn’t be any more enemies about after they just knocked them all around like that, but still. Sora could also not give away their location by yelling for everyone and anyone to hear.

Kairi links her arm in his and tugs him forward. Riku matches her pace willingly, keeping a sharp eye out for any movement in the trees. They’ve been ambushed a few times while climbing to the peak, and he doesn’t want a repeat performance.

“Do you think we’ll find anything at the top?” Kairi asks.

“Yeah,” Riku says. “The people from the Organisation love to be up high. If there’s someone on this island, I’ll bet we’ll find them there.”

“Then you don’t think it’s a trap?”

“Of course it’s a trap,” Riku says. “Luxord invited us here particularly. There’s something that he wants from us. Unluckily for him, we’re not going to give it to him.

“But what if the only thing he wants is to distract us by coming here?” Kairi presses. “We could have played right into their hands.”

“We could have,” Riku admits. “But we can’t cover every place in this whole world. This is our only lead. And Luxord is one for games – games where he tries to trick us to our faces. I don’t think he would have told us to come here if he wasn’t going to be here as well. And that’s where we’ll get him, because he’s still underestimating us. If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t have said anything to us at all, and we wouldn’t be here.”

Kairi hums under her breath. “We’ll just have to be prepared for anything, then?”

“Yep.”

Riku counts the potions, elixirs and ethers he has left. It’s a smaller number than he’d like, but for some reason he can’t cast cure like he can cast fire.

The rest spot that Sora had found has a glowing rest point and a moogle, and a stream running down one side. Kairi goes to splash in the stream, and Riku heads for the rest point to sit in the golden light. Sora is negotiating with the moogle, handing over several of the supplies and items that they’ve picked up along the way. The moogle is tutting over something, but Riku is too far away to hear.

“Mind if I join ya?”

“Sure,” Riku says. Goofy sits down next to him, sighing in relief as the golden light washes over him. Riku can feel it lapping against him, mana pooling inside him ready to cast spells when he needs it.

“Ya ready for the fight ‘gainst Luxord?” Goofy asks.

“As ready as I can be,” Riku says. “Though I might buy some more potions from the moogle, since he’s here. I’m running a bit low.”

“Here,” Goofy says, handing him some munny. “Get some with that, too. I don’t want ya to run out in the middle of the fight. It’s handy having someone on hand as support, ahyuk.”

“Thanks,” Riku says. “I will.”

Kairi comes out of the stream and shakes herself off, the magic in her clothes drying her immediately. She stretches, and Riku looks away, getting up from the rest point and heading over to Sora.

“Hey,” Sora says. “Look what I made for you!”

“Hm?”

Sora presents him with an accessory that gleams unnaturally. Riku takes it gingerly, and feels the thread of magic in it.

“It boosts your magic and gives you an extra slot for items,” Sora says, near jumping on the spot from excitement. “It should be useful for you.”

“Thank you,” Riku says. He pins it on his collar and shivers as the magic in the accessory roots itself in him. He buys as many potions as he can carry from the moogle, and then the entire party regroups in the centre of the clearing.

“Everyone ready to move on?” Sora says. “We’re almost at the peak. If you need something, you should get it now.”

“I’m ready.”

“Let’s go!”

“I’ll show that Organisation creep what’s up.”

“I would like to end this.”

Riku just nods.

Sora gives them all a thumbs up. “Alright then, let’s do it.”

They’re quiet as they leave the clearing. Riku rubs his fingers together, feeling the spark of potential magic in them, ready to flare to life the second he needs it. There’s no noise as the peak of the island comes into view, no insects or birds calling. There is another clearing at the peak, no jungle trees to block the amazing view out over the ocean.

There’s no one here.

Riku circles the edge of the area slowly, looking over the side of the sheer cliff that falls away from the mountaintop. On the opposite side of the area, there’s a plinth of some kind, and of course Sora has jogged over to it immediately.

“Anything there?” Donald quacks. He’s had the same idea as Riku, and is carefully scouting out the other side of the plateau.

“Not that I can see,” Riku calls. The area seems peaceful. The darkness circling around his fingers crackles, reacting to the tension in his gut.

Sora pokes at the plinth. Almost immediately, there’s a warping sound and a dark portal opens at the exit, cutting all of them off from leaving the mountaintop. Luxord steps out, eyes gleaming.

“So you have come… interesting indeed.” He looks at all of them, who have summoned their weapons and are preparing to fight.

“You won’t get that black box!” Kairi calls out.

“Assuming that was my only intention all along is a mistake,” Luxord says. “When dealing with one who loves games of chance… well, we just can’t leave well enough alone. Rarely are we playing only one game at a time.” He flicks a palmful of cards out onto the grass, where they bloom into smoke and leave Heartless and Nobodies in their wake. “A bit of chaos serves for a marvellous distraction, don’t you agree?”

Luxord disappears, the arena is sealed with magic, and the first Heartless jumps forward.

Riku grits his teeth and retreats to the plinth, where he’s mostly out of the line of fire. He can provide ranged support from here, and he does, keeping track of all five of his allies in the fight, carefully throwing fire where it will be the most effective, and using his potions sparingly. He doesn’t think this will be all of it. He sneaks looks at the plinth when he can – there’s some sort of inscription on it, but it’s not in a language that he can read. They’ll have to wait until the battle is over to examine it more carefully.

Sure enough, when the first wave is gone, a second wave spawns. Riku casts dark firaga at one a little too soon, and it latches onto him as its prey instead of Donald. Swearing under his breath, he runs around the edge of the arena, trying to lose its attention.

“You okay?” Kairi asks, falling into step with him for a few seconds.

“Just peachy,” Riku replies, and fires off a blast over his shoulder.

She winks at him and flies back into the fray, and Jack helps to distract the Heartless that had been going after Riku. Riku crouches at the edge of the arena, the cliff behind his back, and watches the fight, thinking.

Luxord isn’t one to waste words. There must be another game hidden here if he had hinted as such. Unfortunately Riku doesn’t have very many hints as to what it might be – he wasn’t there when Sora and Kairi confronted Luxord originally, so if anything had been dropped there, he wouldn’t know. Sora and Kairi are busy fighting, so he can’t exactly ask them.

He casts dark firaga at another Heartless, and a potion at Donald. Frustration beats under his skin, but a deep part of him is saying _not yet, not yet._ He’ll know when best to press his advantage. For now, everyone seems to be holding up fine, and playing support is still helping them.

The party clears out that group of Heartless and stand for a second, panting. Riku drifts over to join them at the centre of the clearing, and Sora flashes him a tired grin. Kairi edges between him and Sora, eyes wary as she examines the air for the next indication of a fight.

“Oh, we’re not finished playing yet,” Luxord says, even though Riku can’t see him. It’s the only warning they get before a dark portal opens under his feet.

It’s not like any other dark portal that he has been through before – ones that he had summoned had a touch of warmth to them, a familiar curl that he had taken for granted. Now, cold grips at him, digging into his skin like he’s invited it there, and the weightlessness of the fall has him flinging his arms out, trying to grab onto _anyone._ Something hits his leg, and something else careens into his back, and Riku grabs both of them, relief rushing over him when he recognises Sora and Kairi’s light.

They’re spat out a good hundred feet above a meadow, but that just means Sora has enough time to cast an aero that catches them and deposits them lightly on the ground. Riku looks around, but nothing is familiar. Kairi catches his hand and he tugs her closer, reassuring them both. It’s just the three of them, but from the split second before the portal sucked them away, Riku is fairly sure that the others hadn’t been targeted. Hopefully they can examine the plinth and get back to ship by themselves.

“I was aiming just for one,” Luxord says, appearing out of a dark corridor in front of them. “But I suppose the three of you are a package deal. The Princess won’t be so easily wrested from the grasp of her two princes.”

“Hey!” Kairi shouts. “There’s no way I’m falling in with whatever plans you have.”

“You say that now,” Luxord murmurs. “How will you do when it’s just the three of you? Place your bets.”

Nobodies warp in, forming a tight circle around them, and the trio stand with their backs to one another, facing the outward threat. Keyblades flash into Sora and Kairi’s hands, and Riku calls on his darkness to spark at the ends of his fingertips.

Luxord laughs as he disappears, and the Nobodies rush them all at once.

Riku yells as he throws a wave of dark fire that pushes them back on his side, and Kairi echoes him as she casts a ball of light. Sora throws his Keyblade, and it appears back in his hand a second later, and then Riku has to stop looking at them because he has to deal with what’s in front of him.

He can’t keep up casting forever – he breaks from the protective circle unwillingly, but knowing that he can’t just stand there. He has to move if he wants a chance at fighting back. He cartwheels away from an attack, dashes past another, and uses doubleflight to give himself a second of breathing space.

Sora yells but Riku doesn’t have the time to throw him a potion, so he grits his teeth and runs, trying to lead some of the Nobodies on a merry chase to distract them from Sora and Kairi. A few break off to follow him as he circles the main fight, unwilling to get too far away from his two friends. He chances a glance back, and even from this distance he can see the blood that’s covering half of Sora’s face. A part of him says that head wounds bleed a lot, but a louder part starts panicking.

He turns and hits the Nobodies following him with a combo of dark firagas that burns through his mana, but destroys them all. He leaps back towards Sora, kicking one Nobody out of the way and then cuts the legs out from another who was advancing on Kairi.

Sora jumps towards him and Riku gives him a platform to jump off, Sora leaping high into the air and raining down magic on those that are left. Kairi appears at his side and Riku creates a ball of darkness that she wraps in light, a pulsating bomb that she punts into a crowd of Nobodies that are left. Combined with Sora’s efforts, that gets rid of the rest of them. Riku stands, still tense, and catches his breath as he looks around.

“You guys okay?” Sora says after he lands.

“I think you got the worst of it,” Kairi says. She lifts her Keyblade and casts a cure that settles over all of them. Riku feels it seep into his bones, lifting some of the weariness that had begun to gather there.

“That’s right!” Sora yells. “Anything else you have planned for us?! We’ll deal with that just as well!”

“If you insist.”

An orb of darkness appears, slowly growing larger and larger. Riku grabs Sora and Kairi and pulls them back, wary. Kairi shoots a light ball into it, but it gobbles it up without looking any worse for wear.

“That’s getting kinda big,” she says, alarm creeping into her voice.

“It’s just the one,” Sora says. “Look out for the pattern of its attacks, and remember that if it can’t knock you out, then eventually we can get rid of it.”

“Right,” Kairi agrees.

The ball of darkness bursts, and forms into a giant Heartless. It’s wearing a raggedy pirate hat, is swinging a giant chain and anchor in one hand, and has a cutlass in the other. It doesn't have a face. Riku shudders, and gets ready to move. 

“Kairi get around the back and attack it while Riku and I distract it,” Sora directs. “Riku, come with me. We’ll try and get it to change who it’s focusing on, so it’s caught between the two of us. Let Kairi do some heavy lifting for a while.”

“Got it,” Kairi says, and sprints in a wide circle to get around it. Sora runs forward, and Riku shakes his head and follows.

“Hey!” Sora yells. “Over here, ugly!”

The Heartless swivels and lashes out with the cutlass, fast and sharp. Sora dives under the swipe, and Riku readies some fire in his hand. With an enemy so big it’s going to be hard to miss, but he still aims, for maximum damage output.

The dark fire splashes harmlessly against the Heartless. It doesn’t even bother to look in his direction, instead spinning the chain above its head, the anchor at the end a dangerous counterweight.

“Sora!” Riku snaps, but he has already seen it and has fallen back from where he was attacking, eyes sharp as he watches.

“Kairi, get back!” Sora yells, just as the Heartless brings the chain down and starts spinning like a deadly top, the anchor ready to pummel anyone that gets in the way. Riku hears Kairi’s cry of pain, and he tries for a different spell, lightning sparking across his fingers.

The spell is low level, far beneath what he can channel with his Keyblade, but it’s more effective than his dark fire. It leaves his fingers shocked too though, spasming slightly. He grimaces and shakes it out, but the spell has brought the Heartless out of its spin, so he counts that as a win.

“Looks like it doesn’t like thunder spells,” Sora grins, the expression tight. He lifts his Keyblade and a much stronger thunder spell ricochets out of it, making the Heartless bellow.

“Kairi can’t use thunder yet,” Riku reminds Sora.

“I’ll keep casting where I can,” Sora agrees. “Come on, let’s get some damage in before it starts anything up again.”

The Heartless is only shocked for another few seconds, but Sora uses those to great effect. Riku darts around to the side until he can see Kairi, who is only just getting up from the ground. He throws her a potion and she springs to her feet, anger written across her shoulders.

“HIYA!” she screeches as she jumps back into the fight.

They work around it, darting in to land a few hits. Sora yells a reminder to Kairi about wearing it down when she gets hit again, worry staining his voice. Riku tosses another potion to her, and Kairi gets up snarling.

Sora spins as he lands another combo, and the Heartless grumbles out a complaint. It curls up slightly, and Riku focuses his magic to shoot another thunder spell at it. It leaps from his fingers eagerly, but the recoil hits harder than before and he hisses as his arm goes dead.

“Shit,” he says, watching the Heartless. If the thunder spell has disturbed it at all, he can’t tell. His arm begins tingling, the painful sensation of pins and needles covering an entire limb. He holds it close as the Heartless roars, bursting into flame. The fire coats the cutlass and the anchor chain as well, making both weapons even more dangerous.

“We’re getting there! Keep going!” Sora calls out. Riku skirts around the Heartless, keeping away from the firey blasts that are going off every few seconds. At least he knows why his dark fire didn’t work. An unfortunate match up, but that happens sometimes.

Kairi is like a burr, sticking to its back even as it tries to swivel around to catch her. Sora is making use of the movements, attacking its lower half and trying to stagger it. The Heartless slices downwards with its cutlass and Sora jumps to avoid it, but that leaves him in the air, unable to manoeuvre. Riku dodges another fire blast and watches in horror as the Heartless swings it’s chain around and grabs Sora, wrapping him in the fire. Sora screams, and Kairi echoes him. Riku starts towards the Heartless, to somehow get Sora free, to distract it – he doesn’t know. Kairi is attacking, and not backing off, and the Heartless swings around and with a sweeping cut, knocks her to the ground.

Riku sees red.

“YOU WON’T HURT THEM!” he bellows, suddenly speeding across the ground, faster than normal. Magic gathers around him, hot and heavy and metallic on his tongue, and he springs up into the air, spinning to gain momentum, and closes his hands on his Keyblade to execute an overhand strike that slashes through the chains that are holding Sora, splintering them into a thousand pieces.

Sora falls and Riku dives after him, free hand reaching out to grasp his arm and cushion his fall. He calls up a dark shield to reflect the next attack directed at them, and casts cure on Sora, who groggily looks up at him.

“Sora,” Riku says, shaking his shoulder slightly. “Hey, can you hear me?”

“…Riku?” Sora mumbles. Riku recasts his dark shield, looking for Kairi frantically. She’s struggling to stand up on the other side of the Heartless – it won’t stay distracted from her for long.

“Come on, Sora, now isn’t the time to sleep in,” Riku begs him, and when the Heartless bounces off his shield for the third time, he takes the opportunity to leap into the fight.

It’s freeing – all the tension and the frustration and helplessness that he’s been feeling over the last few days, not being able to fight alongside Sora or Kairi, not being able to help himself, let alone any of his friends – all of it is gone. There is only the narrowed eyed concentration of landing a hit right _there_ , of spinning to avoid an attack, of shooting a strong thunder spell out of his Keyblade, the satisfaction of seeing it land. Kairi flashes across the battlefield, adding her own efforts to the battle.

Riku narrows his eyes as he jumps in again. _You’re not going to win. Not while I’m still standing._

* * *

Kairi yells as she strikes, voicing her effort. Sora is still down, but Riku has his Keyblade again, long and grey and _strong,_ and she can feel his support almost like it’s a physical wall she can prop herself up against.

This Heartless just _won’t go down._ She sees Riku perform a whirling attack, flashing blades near blocking out what she can see of her boyfriend. He’s certainly bounced back fast – but she can’t think about that when there’s a giant anchor and chain coming towards her, and she has to _dodge–_

She pats her hair nervously, wondering if that had been close enough to set it on fire. It’s not fair that this Heartless likes fire, not when fire is her best spell!

It lets out a giant roar, and a wash of fire leaps out from it, racing over the ground. Kairi eeps, and jumps over the worst of it, but then she has to get out of the way of the cutlass and there’s just no time to attack when every moment is dedicated to getting her out of the way of the next threat.

Frustration bubbles in the back of her throat. She’s just not fast enough – it’s the same problem all over again. She gets a second to breathe, and watches as Riku lets loose a dazzling barrage of thunder attacks to keep the Heartless occupied. She clenches her fist around her Keyblade. Maybe trying this in a middle of a battle isn’t the best idea, but right now it’s something that she has to do.

She slides out of the way of another swipe of the giant cutlass, dodges a fireball, sees an opening and aims. She’s been throwing her Keyblade for a while – this shouldn’t be much different, right?

Her Keyblade spirals through the air. She bounces, watching it, and then digs around for the feeling she gets when airstepping, when summoning her Keyblade to herself. Except this time, _she’s_ going to _it._

Kairi feels her stomach drop as she skips through space, and her hand closes on the hilt of her Keyblade in time for her to execute a combo straight on the nose of the Heartless. Well, where it's nose would be, if it had one. Riku lets out a breathless laugh behind her, and she uses the Heartless as a launch pad to get out of there.

“Kairi! Riku!”

She twists in mid-air and airsteps to Sora’s side. He’s standing, if shakily, but he looks determined.

“Sora!” she cries out. “Are you okay?”

“I’ll be better when we defeat this Heartless,” Sora says. “Riku! Let’s go!”

They circle one another, stepping in rhythm. She leans into the beat of their hearts, the trust that she places in them. Sora lifts his Keyblade, and Kairi puts one hand on his shoulder, while Riku stands at his other side, adding his own power. Kairi grits her teeth and pours her light into Sora, feeding energy into the spell that Sora is building.

Sora fires the spell, a pulsating ball of light and dark entwined together. It lands, the Heartless roars, and begin to unravel. Kairi sees the heart it had captured ascend, travelling to the true Kingdom Hearts, as the meadow is left quiet and serene again, the only evidence of their fight the furrows in the ground and the soot of fires burnt out.

Sora jogs forward slowly, but Riku stays by Kairi. She looks around as he touches her elbow. She looks up at him, to see his eyes sharp and hard, still in battle mode.

She hears the twist of a dark corridor, and turns in time to see one open up in front of Sora. Luxord appears, frowning slightly. He still has those strange cards in his hands, flashing them around like he hasn’t a care in the world.

“You’ve grown stronger yet again, Sora,” Luxord says. “Intriguing. At least something came from this world, after all.”

“We’re strong alright – strong enough to beat you!” Sora says. “And what about your black box, huh?”

“A false lead,” Luxord says nonchalantly. “Nevertheless, we will find the true box eventually. And while your Princess may stay in your grasp today, your vigilance cannot last forever.”

Kairi stiffens. Riku makes a deep sound in his throat, a rumble of anger that she rarely hears from him. 

“Yes it can,” Riku seethes. “We _will_ keep her by our side. Mostly because she can protect herself. And Sora and I will _always_ be there to cover her back. You’ll never get your hands on her.”

Luxord stares at them silently, his only movement being the repetitive motion of his hands shuffling and playing tricks with his cards.

“We’ll see who folds first,” he finally says. “Good day.”

He disappears, and they’re left standing there, in the middle of who knows where.

“Your Keyblade!” Kairi exclaims. She looks down at it. It’s long and grey and has a dull gleam to it, like steel under a fluorescent light. 

“You were so cool Riku,” Sora says, stars in his eyes as he comes back over to them. “And your Keyblade! You got it back!”

He staring at his Keyblade like he’s never seen one before in his life. She’s fairly sure that if a bunch of Heartless appearing and started dancing around them, right now he wouldn’t notice.

“I found the strength to protect,” he murmurs, so softly that she almost doesn’t hear it.

“Riku?” Kairi asks, peering at him.

“Nothing,” Riku says, shaking his head. “I have my Keyblade now. And we managed to thwart a member of the Organisation. I suppose this means that this mission was a success.”

“Yeah!” Kairi agrees, grinning.

“Sure, except you’re forgetting one thing,” Sora says.

“What?”

Sora gestures around them. “ _Where are we?”_

Kairi stares at him. Riku just laughs. “We haven’t let something as simple as that stop us before,” he reminds Sora. “Come on. Between the three of us, we should be able to figure it out.”

Kairi laughs too. After all that’s happened… “Yeah Sora, where’s your pirate sense of adventure?”

Sora hmphs. “All right. With the three of us, we should be able to figure this one out.”

“Yeah,” Riku agrees.

“Then we better get started,” Kairi says. She pumps her arm in the air. “Cause after all that fighting, I _really_ want something to eat.”

Riku huffs out a laugh, and together they turn, ready for the next step.

* * *

“…and then after that Heartless was defeated, we found out that we weren’t actually very far from the town that we had first landed in. Sora flew the ship and we met up with the others, directed them to where the Black Pearl should be, said our goodbyes, and picked up Donald and Goofy before heading back here.”

Riku finishes his recount looking at his friends to see if they want to add anything. Kairi just nods to show her agreement, while Sora is muttering to Donald about something. Master Yen Sid strokes his beard silently as he mulls Riku’s words over.

“Wow! It sounds like ya had a load of adventure,” Mickey says. “And ya got your Keyblade back?”

“Yeah,” Riku says, summoning Braveheart. It glimmers into his hand and he shows it to Mickey and Master Yen Sid. Mickey grins at him and Riku feels a corresponding warmth light in his chest. He looks down at his Keyblade. It’s a Master’s blade, he can tell. There’s a type of heaviness to it that no novice should bear.

“Well then I’d call your mission a success,” Mickey says. “Whattya guys think?”

“I think it went super well!” Sora says cheerfully.

“We did what we set out to do. I feel more confident, got some practise in, and learned a few new moves. And even Sora was shaping up by the end,” Kairi teases. Sora blushes slightly but elbows her. She elbows him right back, and Goofy clears his throat pointedly so they don’t dissolve into a wrestle right there and then.

“I agree,” Master Yen Sid says. “Mickey, did you find what you needed in Radiant Garden?”

“Yep,” Mickey says. “I’m ready for another foray into the Realm of Darkness. What about you, Riku?”

Riku takes a deep breath. “Yeah. I’m ready.” He dismisses his Keyblade, and feels it settle in his heart. When he needs it, it will be there again. He’s sure of that now.

“Then I wish you good luck and swift travels,” Master Yen Sid says.

“We’re ready to go too!” Donald quacks. “We’ll keep looking out for the Organisation, checking on Princesses, and tryin’ to find a hint about how to rescue Roxas.”

“Very well,” Master Yen Sid says. “Good luck to you four as well.”

There’s a round of goodbyes, scattered organisation, and then everyone is filing out of Master Yen Sid’s office. Riku hesitates for a second, because there’s still something he needs to ask, but he doesn’t want to do it in front of everyone else.

“Go on. I’ll catch up in a second.”

Mickey gives him a firm nod, and Sora waves as he drags Donald out the door, Goofy hot on their heels. Kairi watches him for a second but he just gestures to the door and she leaves too. He turns back to Master Yen Sid.

“Master Yen Sid,” he says, and then hesitates, unsure how to phrase what he wants to ask.

“Yes, Master Riku?”

Riku threads his fingers together and cracks his knuckles, mostly just to have something to do. “You said… Sending me out with Sora and Kairi was supposed to help me get my Keyblade back.”

“And that worked, did it not?”

“It did,” Riku says. “But you said that reflection and some danger would help. I _did_ do some thinking, about what it means now that I’m a master, but my Keyblade didn’t come when I was hurt. It came when Sora and Kairi needed me the most.”

Master Yen Sid regards him silently. It’s not the first time that Riku has been the object of his gaze, but it is the first time that he’s uncomfortable with it.

“I never said that _you_ were the one who had to be in danger,” he finally says. “You are a Master now, Master Riku. You bear a responsibility that your friends do not. It shows, in how you wield your Keyblade. And by now you should know that a Keyblade is only as strong as the heart that wields it.”

Riku shifts his weight between his feet, unsure what to say to that. When he holds his new Keyblade… he can tell that it’s different to the one he had before. The Braveheart is sturdier, more versatile. He’s not quite sure what to think of that. Is that supposed to reflect him, too?

“When Mickey and I have something to report, we’ll be back,” he eventually settles on, and turns to leave.

“Master Riku,” Master Yen Sid calls. Riku pauses with his hand on the door.

“Yes?”

“Make sure that you see your friends off this time. I don’t wish to hear Sora complaining that I sent you away without a proper farewell yet again.”

Riku nods, and pretends he doesn’t have a tight knot in his throat. He’s been trying to ignore the gap between Sora, Kairi and him, but maybe he shouldn’t be. Mickey has told him some of the things that a Master needs to keep track of. Those extra responsibilities belong to him, not them. He sighs.

“Hey Riku,” Kairi says. He’d passed through one of the many doors in this place, to find her here. Her hands are tucked behind her back, and she leans into his space slightly, looking up at him. It’s a pose that’s she’s been pulling for years, and something about it settles him. Or maybe it’s just Kairi who settles him. “You done talking with Master Yen Sid?”

“Yeah,” Riku says. “Where’s Sora?”

“He ran back to the gummi ship already,” Kairi says, rolling her eyes. “Eager to be off again.”

“Right,” Riku says. “Like Mickey said, head back to the Realm of Darkness soon. We’ll probably rest up here for the night and then head off tomorrow.”

A shadow falls over her face. “Yeah, I guess you will.”

“You alright?”

She smiles, but it’s small. “I just… I don’t know what I’ll be doing, that’s all.”

“You aren’t going with Sora?” Riku asks.

She twists one of her bracelets around on her wrist. “I don’t know. He hasn’t asked me if I want to come along.”

Riku puts a hand on her shoulder. “Probably because he just assumes that you’re coming and don’t need to be asked.”

She looks up at him. “I…”

“That’s what he’s thinking,” Riku says firmly. “I don’t really want to take you or Sora to the Realm of Darkness with me,” he admits. “It’s… not a good place. And I don’t know how you would react to being there, what with being a Princess and everything. When Sora and I were there after defeating Xemnas, that was more than enough. You don’t have to see it too.” He takes a breath. “But you should go out and see other worlds. You’re a Keyblade wielder just like Sora. Why shouldn’t you go with him?”

“I don’t know. I thought… maybe he wouldn’t want me along. Maybe he wanted to go back to how it was when it was just him, Donald and Goofy.”

Riku slides his hand up to rest on the back of her neck and pulls her in close. “Things have changed since then,” he points out. “He was searching for us both – but he’s not searching for us now, is he? He knows where we are. And there’s no reason why you shouldn’t go with him.”

She takes in a shuddering breath against his chest. He strokes her hair, letting her calm herself down from the near panic she has worked herself into.

“Right,” she says. “I’ll go and ask Sora if I can come along. It’ll be fun, but I’ll miss you.” She leans back so she can peer up at him. “Sorry for being silly about it.”

He leans down and presses a kiss against her forehead. She still smells like that one shampoo she uses, even after being away from the Islands for all this time. “It’s not being silly. You were upset. Don’t worry about it.”

She threads their fingers together and pulls him towards the next door, which opens onto another set of stairs leading downwards. Why it can’t connect directly to the ground floor he doesn’t know, but holding hands with Kairi doesn’t make him want to question it.

“I’ll never understand this tower,” Kairi says. “So how’d you get your Keyblade back, anyway?”

Riku shrugs a shoulder. “It wasn’t too hard in the end. Not when it really mattered.”

She grins at him. “What did I tell you? I knew I could rely on you.”

“Ha. Yeah.”

She squeezes his hand. “When you get back from the Realm of Darkness you’ll call us, right?”

“Of course,” Riku says. “I don’t know how long we’ll be gone. Try not to have too much fun in the meantime, alright?”

She doesn’t smile at that, keeping her eyes on the stairs as they descend. “I’ll get stronger, Riku. When Xehanort or anyone else tries to come for me again, I’ll be able to help fight them off. I’ll help save everyone from the Organisation.”

“Yeah,” Riku agrees. “You will. Just don’t push yourself too hard, okay? Take some breaks while you’re out there.”

“I’ll take care of myself,” she says, eyes serious. “And Sora. We both know that he needs it.”

They reach the next portal, and when they phase through it they’re standing out the front of the tower. The gummi ship is hovering a few meters off the ground, humming contentedly. Riku can hear Sora and Donald yelling at each other about something from inside, with Goofy pitching in every now and again. Kairi just shakes her head, and steps forward.

Riku follows.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi Calantian! Your prompts of a pirate au/canon divergence/keyblades/worldbuilding/missing scenes/Disney characters just kinda... collided in my head, and thus this fic was born. In the end, this ended up being about Riku more than anyone else, but I think that I managed to get some development for both Sora and Kairi in there too. I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Kairi pirate design: [Here](https://twitter.com/jenachuu/status/1047064823912116228)  
> Riku pirate design (and bonus Kairi): [Here](https://twitter.com/Toradhart/status/1095038065519796224)  
> Sora is, of course, wearing his normal pirate outfit that appears when he travels to the Caribbean.


End file.
